Obedience To Traffic-Control Devices

[LarzMarz]

I was recently was stopped by a Pa State Trooper going back to work from my lunch break. I made a left at a green traffic light and I then got pulled over by a State Trooper. He says I ran the red light. I grabbed my phone and hit record and then put it in my cup holder. On the video I recorded, he said that the traffic was stopped in the other direction and I jumped the red light. He also said that the recording device in his cruiser got me going thru the red light. What to do?

 

[FlyingRon]

While he could lie to you during the stop, why would he? Any chance there was a left turn signal you missed?

You have two options: admit guilt and pay the ticket or go to the magistrate as marked on your ticket and argue your case. Magistrates range from kindly people who'll listen to your story and still find it uncompelling to complete buttholes who will scoff at any excuses you make.

 

[adjusterjack]

If traffic school is an option that will keep the ticket off your record, I suggest you take it.

 

[FlyingRon]

They don't do that in Pennsylvania. You can go to traffic school after the fact, however, and reduce the point accumulation.

 

[NeilTheCop]

I was recently was stopped by a Pa State Trooper going back to work from my lunch break. I made a left at a green traffic light and I then got pulled over by a State Trooper. He says I ran the red light. I grabbed my phone and hit record and then put it in my cup holder. On the video I recorded, he said that the traffic was stopped in the other direction and I jumped the red light. He also said that the recording device in his cruiser got me going thru the red light. What to do?

Ask for a copy of the recording the trooper stated he had made of the incident.

 

[LarzMarz]

In order to get a copy of the video footage, it's $100. You basically have to pay a fee if you want to do a discovery. I recently looked at the citation and the Trooper screwed up.
1. The wrong color of my car.
2. He put the wrong direction my car was going. He said I was going south and I was going north.
3. He said the location was (L. Street 38 feet west of E. Street). L Street goes north up to E. Street. E. Street is the main street. 38 feet going west puts this at M. Street. I wasn't on M. Street, he was. M & L streets have red lights. They all connect, so if L and M street have a red light, sometimes L streets light turns green before M streets does. Not all the time but once in a while. That's what happened. I also found out that when the Trooper hits the lights, the camera automatically records the first 30 seconds before the lights are activated. From where the red light is to where the Trooper finally pulled me over was about a minute before he hit the lights.

 

[FlyingRon]

Nothing written on the citation itself will much matter in court.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Nothing written on the citation itself will much matter in court.

I disagree. While the citation is hearsay and inadmissible to help prove what LarzMarz did it can be used for the purpose of impeaching the officer's credibility.

 

[FlyingRon]

Good luck with that with most of the PA magistrates.

 

[LarzMarz]

Nothing written on the citation itself will much matter in court.

What is written on the citation should be the same thing that the Trooper says I got cited for. The intersection is off set. The street I was going north on comes to a red light. At that red light, if you make a left as I did, you go west. 38 feet west as marked on the citation brings you to the other street with a red light. If I was going south toward the main street, I would have been on the wrong street. Where he said I ran the red light at if I was going south, I would be going the opposite way. I actually went down the street opposite of where he said I was at on the ticket last night to the red light. The direction in my car said south. Also, if you go down the street I went down and if you're at that red light, if you look over and up to your left, you cannot see the red light from where I was originally at. All you see is the backside of the red light.

 

[HighwayMan]

Obviously you have the situation well in hand. Good luck in court.

 

[NeilTheCop]

In order to get a copy of the video footage, it's $100. You basically have to pay a fee if you want to do a discovery.

Send a registered letter to the trooper stating that you wish to view and copy the recording, and cite PA Code 4009.1

(a) Any party may serve a request upon a party pursuant to Rules 4009.11 and 4009.12 or a subpoena upon a person not a party pursuant to Rules 4009.21 through 4009.27 to produce and permit the requesting party, or someone acting on the party's behalf, to inspect and copy any designated documents (including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, and electronically stored information), or to inspect, copy, test or sample any tangible things or electronically stored information, which constitute or contain matters within the scope of Rules 4003.1 through 4003.6 inclusive and which are in the possession, custody or control of the party or person upon whom the request or subpoena is served, and may do so one or more times.

Or better still, get your attorney to do it.

 

[LarzMarz]

The so called RTKL can't get me anything. Video and audio recordings are exempt. Act 22 of 2017 exempts the State Police from fulfilling requests for audio and video records. Getting an attorney is a minimum $500 for traffic. The citation is $182. $150 for the fine and another $32 for those BS fees. I showed my citation to a cop and showed him where the Trooper put the wrong direction of travel. He told me the Magistrate should toss it.

 

[NeilTheCop]

I glanced through the Act and it only seems to apply to wire taps and surveillance recordings, not patrol car cameras.
Read § 67A03 of the Act.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/li/uconsCheck.cfm?yr=2017&sessInd=0&act=22

 

[AlmostThere]

The so called RTKL can't get me anything. Video and audio recordings are exempt. Act 22 of 2017 exempts the State Police from fulfilling requests for audio and video records. Getting an attorney is a minimum $500 for traffic. The citation is $182. $150 for the fine and another $32 for those BS fees. I showed my citation to a cop and showed him where the Trooper put the wrong direction of travel. He told me the Magistrate should toss it.

There are plenty of traffic-lawyer-as-a-service websites that cost far less than $500. I recently used one.