1st ticket in 11 years-Should i FIGHT?

you could always go back and find out where he sits and put a cable around his rear axle

 

this is what i do.
call his office and tell them you want to know how many tickets he wrote in the last 2 years,how many were written to hotrod cars,how many were written to old/young guys etc. try to find a pattern,he may hate old guys,or hotrods etc. Make it look like hes got a hardon for you,get it?
take pics of the signs on the street,ask where he saw you first etc,etc. make it a pain in the ass for them,its all about easy money,if they find its not going to be easy they give up.
Randy

 

Fair enough in a smaller town or municipality. But in larger metropolitan places like So Cal, they see literally thousands of cases each week & while he will know if it's been continued before, it may not make much difference. I used to do the continuance dance a lot when I lived in S.FLA (big metro) & when I did it in small-town N.FLA, it did piss the judge off (after I realized my cop was there, I asked for a continuance in open court - denied & I lost).

You do have a reason to ask - you need time to build your case just like a prosecutor in a murder trial. You need time to do the research, overcome any hurdles or bureacractic roadblocks and get your facts straight. You can subpoena any records regarding the cop, his training, the car, the radar gun, etc. that was involved on that day. If you don't get them in a timely manner from the police, you can request a continuance in good conscience because your requested evidence has not been provided for your day in court.

Usually, you don't have to go to court to request the continuance, you can do it through the Clerk of the Court (again, locality depending), so you don't have to see the judge.

Just because you request one, doesn't mean they're granted either.

Cops can't send a friend or buddy to testify against you by reading the ticket - don't work that way. That's inadmissable & it's almost better than the cop not showing up.

Now, I have seen one case where the cop didn't show up, so the judge rescheduled & told the clerk to remind the PD not to waste his time anymore. Fortunately, I didn't get that judge next time around.

FWIW, I typically don't fight speeding tickets - too much "evidence" against you. I do traffic school & avoid the points. I've only ever fought two speeding tickets & am 1-1 in that arena. It's easier to do school.

 

Pay the ticket. You don't know how fast you were going or how far he followed you. No speedo.

Was the cop a prick? Sure, but most I've met were even off duty. But honestly, you were speeding. What "lesson" would you want your kid to learn if he did the same....lie to save a bit of money or pay for your mistakes?

Part of the reason we have a fragged legal system now is the first three pages of responses here. "man even if your guilty fight!" "Don't take the ticket, it might hurt your record" "Do what you need to do to save the money on insurance."

It's amazing the whores we become to save $100.

 

I just pay tickets, I figure all the stuff I really do that is illegal - I am more than lucky 99% of the time.

It just isn't worth the stress of feeling the injustice for 100 bucks

I also feel that if you just pay and don't make them go through the court process, half the time, the ticket doens't make it on your record. That has just been my experience. I have several tickets I just paid that never made it to my record. If you go to court. It has to go on your record.

Its hard to beat the man.

 

your shop is on that stretch of road? yep, you need to show this cop who's boss. make sure he remembers you and recognizes you on site.

 

One other thing to look into.....I'm pretty sure that the officer can not act as both prosecutor and witness against you because he would have a vested interest in the outcome. ie...he could lie to win or further his case and that is not permissible. They do it all the time though. The Judge can't be the prosecutor either.

www.tipmra.com/new_tipmra/on_trial_without_a_prosecutor.htm

 

You're gonna have to prove you weren't speeding. If it's your word against his, you lose. If the judge isn't a car guy (doubtful), then it's gonna be hard to convince him that you knew exactly how fast you were going with just a tach and no speedo. The "Other car was breaking the law more than I was." defense doesn't work. Again, it's a his word against yours (unless you have the van driver in court with you) and it's irrelivant (sp?) anyway.

If you don't want the ticket on your record, hire a lawyer. If your worried about insurance, ask about the Defensive Driving course before you go to court and see if you can plead No Contest.
Larry T

BTW Would you defend yourself in a murder trial? Same basic principles apply to ANY trial.

 

If it's anything like NC, there is a huge difference in 7 over and 12 over. Once you hit 9 over it affects your insurance. So it does make ia difference...

 

100% agreed.

 

Not if it affects you insurance it isn't...

 

I guess that I must differ greatly from the majority here as I'd just pay it. I always figure that I owe them anyway,I speed every day but only get a ticket every three or four years. wtf

 

Speeding tickets often = little more than money grabs.... IMO

 

I dont kwow what difference it does, but a tach is more accurate in reading speed then a speedo if you just do the math with gear ratio and tiresize!

 

I'd say it's worth it to fight it. I got a reckless ticket reduced to careless, which though it doesn't sound great saved me from being cancelled on my insurance.

Why not take advantage of your RIGHT to appear before a judge and defend yourself? In fact, it's your duty! What's the worst that could happen? Miss a couple hours of work?

 

Be thankfull that you got away with speeding
the other thousand times.

 

As everyone knows speeding tickets are nothing more than a source of revenue for the town. They really have very little to do with safety. Now I have had a few, the last two I decieded to fight. The first was 200 miles from home so when I went to court I had all my ducks in a row and even got to cross examine the trooper, lost the case, afterwards saw the trooper and judge bullshitting about the fishing and the wife and kids, it hit me they spend a lot of time together in court and get to know each other. The second time I spent $350 on the lawyer, and the 150 on the ticket, should have just paid the 150. I don't think you can beat them you can get them reduced if you have a clean record, they don't seem to care about the speeding it's the money so tell the DA your sorry and you don't want to be punshised unfairly by increased insurance costs for your wrong doing, they will reduce it and you still pay the fine. I don't think you can win.

 

You guys saying, "just pay it and be done" are the ones that keep the money machine running efficiently. It's a money machine for insurance companies and bueracrats.

There's a notable difference between speeding and driving faster than the speed limit. Doing 60 in a 25 school zone or residential area is speeding. Doing 80 in a 60 on I-5 (and getting passed by the majority of traffic) is just driving faster than the speed limit. Unfortunately, that difference is subjective and the government has to cater to the lowest common denominator in terms of vehicle safety and driver ability.

 

i know its bullshit but you drew the short straw.

 

Are you saying Groucho's green machine looked slower than the van, as in "low hanging fruit"?

Thanks,
Kurt

 

All good points. Bottom line is they make it so inconvenient to fight, that most will pay. It's like gambling, you can't beat the house. I pretty much know i'll take traffic school and hope i don't get another ticket for years to come. It's been so long, i wanted to hear from all you that've maybe done this more recently than me. You guys that say it's for the other times i've sped, and it's time to pay the piper? I agree completely. I absolutely do. I do consider all the shit i DO get away with, and the attention getting cars i drive, etc? I'VE BEEN LUCKY! I'm bailing from this thread-THANKS

 

I think youre smart dude. You live there, you know how much the Burbank PD can suck. I got a ticket there a few years ago, cop only spoke 3 words to me, "late for work?". He went outta his way on the ticket to be a douche and make notations on the ticket(granted I was totally guilty). You don't wanna be on the radar screen for these a-holes, since your shop is there.

 

Doesn't seem "funny" at all. Stupid stuff like that is why we pay tons of $$ in taxes. Nobody respect public property. In-turn costs tax payers more.
Now I am not saying that fighting a bogus ticket is bad...but wasting court time fighting a 10 over ticket when you were going 15 over costs taxpayers $$ and ties up government officials from doing constructive work.

 

Cliffy. First off I don't think my "crankcase enema" caused much in the way of damage,but even if if did I'd venture that they should'nt have shit in their own nest... One of the previously mentioned
patrol cars was destroyed sometime after my run-in with the same
cop. Seems he tried to chase a friend of mine and missed a turn
and whacked a tree... Of course his story was slightly different.
He claimed he was chasing a car(that wasn't my buddies) that
he'd seen trying to break into a record store(that had no signs
of being broken into) during the chase the suspect suppossedly
fired at least 6 shots at the officer and he returned fire. Now his
destroyed cruiser DID have 3 bullet holes in it and made HUGE
news in our small town. Problem is within a couple weeks a bullet
recovered from his cruiser was matched to his service revolver.

You make a reference "to wasting court time" also
As hopelessly skewed as our system of government seems to be
I still appreciate the ability to confront my accuser.
Lastly, I got a real kick out of your use of "government officials"
and "doing constructive work" in the same sentence. Made me
smile.

My last comment on this subject before it strays into pissin
match territory.

 

Hey Groucho. my brother WAS a big non believer that some one can actually win a ticket. well guess who pressed on him to make sure he tries to fight the damn thing? thats right he went to court last tuesday and guess what? his CHP was a no show. he said their was about 11 people their to fight tickets and only 2 cops showed up. and the 2 people who fought it WON!!! he said from now on he's going to fight ALL his tickets.