There are several layers to a defense.
The officer may not even show (layer 1) ask for dismissal and object to any continuance.
You can challenge the radar unit and also the tuning forks used to calibrate the radar unit.
The unrelated matter is not relevant to this traffic case.
see:
CITY OF ST. LOUIS, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
Forrest BOECKER, Defendant-Appellant.
Both the defendant and the City cite and rely on the only reported Missouri case involving radar, State v. Graham, Mo.App., 322 S.W.2d 188, decided by the Springfield Court of Appeals in 1959. In that case the state troopers had tested their radar machine shortly before defendant's arrest, and at the point where the arrest occurred, by what is called the run-through test, in which a car was driven through the beam at speeds of 50 and 70 miles per hour (as indicated on the automobile speedometer) to determine whether corresponding speeds were registered on the dial of the radar speedmeter; and also by the use of two tuning forks calibrated to register 50 and 70 miles per hour on the radar speedmeter. The defendant, who was charged with going 65 miles per hour in a 50 mile per hour zone, raised among others the same points as does the defendant here, namely, that there was no proof that the radar had been properly tested or that it was functioning properly at the time of his arrest. The court stated that it was a matter of common knowledge that an automobile speedometer reflects only approximate speed and that there is considerable variance in the speedometers of different cars. It noted that there was no evidence that the speedometer in the patrol car used to check the accuracy of the radar device was itself accurate, or had ever been checked. But it held (l. c. 197 of 322 S.W.2d):
'* * * If such a situation existed in a close case, where there was a slight difference between the allowed and actual speed, we might question the admissibility of such speedometer evidence; but here there was an excess of 15 miles per hour. In addition, there was the confirmation of the tuning fork test. These tests we think were sufficient to make the evidence of the radar speedmeter admissible.'
The court further held that (l. c. 197 of 322 S.W.2d), '* * * the dual tests made almost immediately before the occasion * * *' was prima facie proof that the machine was functioning properly at the time of defendant's arrest.
Defendant argues that it was held in effect in that case that a run-through test by a moving vehicle is absolutely essential to establish the accuracy and proper functioning of a radar speedmeter, and that the court relied entirely on such a test. On the other hand, the City asserts that the court in State v. Graham, supra, recognized the sufficiency of the tuning fork test, standing alone, as prima facie proof of the accuracy and proper operating condition of the radar unit. In our opinion neither view is correct. As the foregoing quotations illustrate, the court based its decision on the duality of the tests made. We think that the important principles to be deduced from State v. Graham, supra, are three-fold: First, the acceptance as a matter of judicial knowledge, '* * * that a radar speedmeter is a device which, within a reasonable engineering tolerance, and when properly functioning and properly operated, accurately measures speed in terms of miles per hour.' (l. c. 195 of 322 S.W.2d); Second, the recognition as a matter of judicial knowledge that the device may not operate properly upon occasions and for various reasons, and that it is therefore, '* * * the obligation of the proponent who uses it to establish prima facie that the machine was properly functioning * * *' (l. c. 197 of 322 S.W.2d); and Third, that '* * * the value of such tests (of a radar speedmeter) would depend upon the accuracy of the measuring device against which it is checked. * * *' (l. c. 197 of 322 S.W.2d).