Hello!
I got a question concerning evidence regarding calibration of the radar device and tuning forks. I just finished my trial following one of the ticket fighting guides, which was very comprehensive and blah blah blah....
Was found guilty of speeding but manage to quote "speed survey" without objection from the prosecutor ,which was supposedly the basis of, as the judge said:" the benefit of a doubt", to strike the 45mph speed limit zone and use 55mph. Essentially speed reduction ( possibly a common occurrence in traffic courts). However I wasn't just following a book script I spend about a month educating myself on the subject. According to my knowledge the whole proceeding was close to what I expected it to be. Unfortunately I was not as articulate as I wanted to be.( first time in court here etc. basically virgin jitters). It seems that everything went fine, until I asked for actual arrest/activity log and tuning fork calibration certificate.
During cross examination officer stated that: he done the internal check and tuning fork calibration in the morning and after the arrest. When I asked for the documentation I was told ( after the funny looks from DA to cop to judge) that there is not any. I stated that higher courts clearly determined that, that officer's testimony to the calibration procedure and radar being accurate can only be taken at face value if it is uncontested. ( Commonwealth vs Honeycutt, and state vs Tomanelli which was one of the cases appellate court based their decision in Honeycutt case). A disclaimer :I did not introduce actual paperwork for judge's consideration despite having the copies...
I stated again that I need those from the DA to prove the actual calibration taken place and was told again that there is not any logs of arrest or activity and calibration certificates for the radar or tuning forks. i motioned for dismissal on the grounds of an insufficient evidence and was promptly found guilty with speed zone exception. I see plenty of holes in what I did and how I did it so that is not an issue.
My question is this: assuming that I formally introduced the case law, can the judge and prosecutor with officer's testimony just tell me , that none of that exist ? And what my course of action should be if my local police department doesn't actually have/use those ?
One more thing. During the cross the prosecutor mention that I never subpoena anything, I said to the judge that it is foundation part of the evidence ( since it supposedly was accurate speed reading device checked and calibrated) and I didn't need to subpoena those. Judge said its a really a mute point since there aren't any logs and certificates.
Clearly, from my readings and first hand experiences traffic cases are not that complicated, but perhaps a more concise check-list could be made to be followed during those. I think I am gonna start the thread.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
I got a question concerning evidence regarding calibration of the radar device and tuning forks. I just finished my trial following one of the ticket fighting guides, which was very comprehensive and blah blah blah....
Was found guilty of speeding but manage to quote "speed survey" without objection from the prosecutor ,which was supposedly the basis of, as the judge said:" the benefit of a doubt", to strike the 45mph speed limit zone and use 55mph. Essentially speed reduction ( possibly a common occurrence in traffic courts). However I wasn't just following a book script I spend about a month educating myself on the subject. According to my knowledge the whole proceeding was close to what I expected it to be. Unfortunately I was not as articulate as I wanted to be.( first time in court here etc. basically virgin jitters). It seems that everything went fine, until I asked for actual arrest/activity log and tuning fork calibration certificate.
During cross examination officer stated that: he done the internal check and tuning fork calibration in the morning and after the arrest. When I asked for the documentation I was told ( after the funny looks from DA to cop to judge) that there is not any. I stated that higher courts clearly determined that, that officer's testimony to the calibration procedure and radar being accurate can only be taken at face value if it is uncontested. ( Commonwealth vs Honeycutt, and state vs Tomanelli which was one of the cases appellate court based their decision in Honeycutt case). A disclaimer :I did not introduce actual paperwork for judge's consideration despite having the copies...
I stated again that I need those from the DA to prove the actual calibration taken place and was told again that there is not any logs of arrest or activity and calibration certificates for the radar or tuning forks. i motioned for dismissal on the grounds of an insufficient evidence and was promptly found guilty with speed zone exception. I see plenty of holes in what I did and how I did it so that is not an issue.
My question is this: assuming that I formally introduced the case law, can the judge and prosecutor with officer's testimony just tell me , that none of that exist ? And what my course of action should be if my local police department doesn't actually have/use those ?
One more thing. During the cross the prosecutor mention that I never subpoena anything, I said to the judge that it is foundation part of the evidence ( since it supposedly was accurate speed reading device checked and calibrated) and I didn't need to subpoena those. Judge said its a really a mute point since there aren't any logs and certificates.
Clearly, from my readings and first hand experiences traffic cases are not that complicated, but perhaps a more concise check-list could be made to be followed during those. I think I am gonna start the thread.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?