Officer measured my speed via LIDAR.
There were about four other officers working this same spot.
Why is that a problem? And, actually, he visually estimated your speed and then confirmed it with LIDAR.
Officer stopped me by calmly walking into center lane of four lane highway, placing his body in the direct path of my vehicle and placing his hands above his head.
A dumb way to make a stop, but no legal issue appears to exist as you yielded to his authority.
There was only one other vehicle on the road which ended up beside me when I stopped.
Officer FALSELY marked heavy traffic on citation. Why did he do this? To bolster his case.
That can certainly be your contention, but it's a non issue unless you were cited for 22350 and challenge the prima facie (posted) speed and use the lack of traffic to make an argument that your actions were not unsafe. In which case the issue for a trier of fact to discern whether the traffic was "heavy" and whether that was a relevant issue or not, not one of "bias".
This also helps my case in proving that the officer was convinced beyound any doubt that I was driving safely. Otherwise he would not put himself in the path of a driver who was driving "at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property". [CVC 22350]
It's not a "bias" issue, but you can certainly raise the issue at your trial to bolster any claim you might want to make.
What was the speed limit, and what speed were you cited for?
Since my wife was going to meet me at the auto dealer down the road, she witnessed everything at the intersection at the bottom of the hill.
Then bring her along, too.
I plan to subpeona the tickets from the other officers to see if they marked LIGHT traffic, which would be the actual truth. I also plan to use any other victims of the officer as witnesses as to the volume of traffic on that street.
Good luck getting all that info and getting anyone else cited to come in and testify against their will.
Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against police officers. (my father was in the force for years). I just don't like it when they falsify documents.
"Heavy" traffic is a subjective opinion, it is NOT "falsifying" a document.
I would urge you to avoid making such accusations against the officer in front of the judge and instead just challenge the prima facie speed with an argument to show that your speed was not "unsafe". Most courts frown upon groundless accusations against officers and this one is weak.
If you have exceeded a posted speed limit for which a valid survey exists to support it, the legal presumption will be that you were driving in violation of 22350. It is now incumbent upon YOU to make the case that given the totality of circumstances your actions were NOT unsafe. You can raise the issue of the traffic, etc., but to argue that the officer is biased because he lied by writing "heavy" for traffic will do your case more damage than good, I believe. Just explain that you saw only one or two cars pass, or whatever, and use the light traffic to bolster your argument.
Arguing that the officer is a liar is not going to be as effective as a cogent and reasonaed argument in your defense.
- Carl