Victory in L.A. Traffic Court !!!
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Victory in L.A. Traffic Court !!!
I got a ticket which alleged I was going 82 mph in a 65 mph zone on the freeway in Los Angeles last January. I decided to fight it (as I always do). I appeared on the date on the ticket in and asked to be arraigned in person, so that I could force them to give me a speedy trial (within 45 days after arraignment under Calif. law). They gave me an arriagnment date in late July!. I went to the arriagnment and pled not guilty. The court gave me a trail date of today (Sept. 2).
I went to court this morning prepared to defend myself. I had a good defense ready and a pretty decent chance of winning. I was checking out all the police officers in the courtroom, looking at their name badges to see if Officer Berg showed up or not. I couldn't find him, but there were a couple of cops in street clothes and no name badge, so I couldn't be sure.
The judge tooK the bench a 9:30 (an hour late) and said the first thing she would do is dismiss all the cases where the cop did not show up. She called about six defendant names and dismissed them. I was not one of them, so I assumed my cop was in the courtroom. I waited another hour and a half, while about 4 trials went on. All 4 were found guilty. Then the court called my case.
I said Good Morning, Your Honor. She said the cop did not show up and my case was dismissed. I said Thank You Your Honor and left, not bothering to ask why I wasn't let go with the other dismissals earlier.
Victory is mine. I get my $200+ bail back an no point on my license. I doesn't matter how you win. Good defenses or cop no-show. ALWAYS FIGHT YOUR TICKETS!!!
I went to court this morning prepared to defend myself. I had a good defense ready and a pretty decent chance of winning. I was checking out all the police officers in the courtroom, looking at their name badges to see if Officer Berg showed up or not. I couldn't find him, but there were a couple of cops in street clothes and no name badge, so I couldn't be sure.
The judge tooK the bench a 9:30 (an hour late) and said the first thing she would do is dismiss all the cases where the cop did not show up. She called about six defendant names and dismissed them. I was not one of them, so I assumed my cop was in the courtroom. I waited another hour and a half, while about 4 trials went on. All 4 were found guilty. Then the court called my case.
I said Good Morning, Your Honor. She said the cop did not show up and my case was dismissed. I said Thank You Your Honor and left, not bothering to ask why I wasn't let go with the other dismissals earlier.
Victory is mine. I get my $200+ bail back an no point on my license. I doesn't matter how you win. Good defenses or cop no-show. ALWAYS FIGHT YOUR TICKETS!!!
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The defense was that in Calif., when an officer determines speed using the pacing method and his speedometer, the speedo must be calibrated. I conducted pre-trial discovery and found out that the state planned to introduce a piece of paper that purported to be a speedo calibration form. It was not certified, it was done by a non-government agency, and it was highly unlikely that they would bring the custodian of records from the testing service to testify how the test was performed, that the form was what it appeared to be, and was prepared in the ordinary course of business.
Therefore, the calibration form was inadmissible hearsay. I have won before with this defense. Also, I was going to try to exclude any evidence of the officer's estimating my speed because, when I requested evidence that the officer had been trained in speed estimation, the CHP custodian of records admitted that such documents existed, but did not produce them. (That one is weaker than the hearsay argument).
I don't expect most of you to understand this post, but if you do, it works.
Therefore, the calibration form was inadmissible hearsay. I have won before with this defense. Also, I was going to try to exclude any evidence of the officer's estimating my speed because, when I requested evidence that the officer had been trained in speed estimation, the CHP custodian of records admitted that such documents existed, but did not produce them. (That one is weaker than the hearsay argument).
I don't expect most of you to understand this post, but if you do, it works.
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congrats, I wanted to go fight my ticket as well but since it was in Simi I figured the officer would defintely show since they don't have anything else to do there but to write tickets... so I bit the bullet and paid the ticket even though I actually knew that I was nowhere near 80 mph...
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