How do I fight a speeding ticket when the cop didn't cite the method used to ascertain my speed?

Question

I have a ticket for unsafe speed written by a Police Officer and the figure 88-90 written in brackets - but the method - radar, lidar, etc, is not disclosed. I was speeding but I was nowhere near that speed. I think he overestimated my speed because my acceleration was greater than his unmarked car behind me. I have a mandatory court appearence on Tuesday. I was actually heading to court that morning for my divorce hearing and was running late.

Adding some info here - I was in a Porsche and he was in an unmarked Chevy Cobalt, so if I was going that fast and saw blue lights he couldn't have kept up. I think the reason he pulled me over was because my blinkers didn't work when I overtook 2 cars (not at the same time) because my relay was out, and cited me for speed cause I accelerated away from the car behind me (him) cause he was riding my bumper

Answer 1

When you go to court, plead "not guilty", the Judge will reset the case. At that time you may ask the judge to enter a Motion for Discovery. It is at that time you should present, in writting, your formal request to the Court for the method used to determine your speed, and ask them to supeona," Duces Tecum " the officer into Court. ( Duces Tecum means; bring with you to court all evidence available or in your possesion.) Chances are that the case will either be dismissed or be set for trial, in the event it is set for trial, if you are a upstanding Citizen in the communittee without a serious driving record, D.U.I., UNSAFE DRIVING,etc. the Judge may go on and dismiss the case. Also if the officer is unable to attend the hearing that may be grounds for dismissal for failure to provide DUE PROCEES ( 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ) GOOD LUCK@@COURT.

Answer 2

Here's the deal: If you go into court with an axe to grind the judge is going to HAMMER you, especially when you consider the fact that you have another recent speeding ticket. Your best bet is to go to court wearing your Sunday best, plead guilty, explain the situation (emphasizing the fact that you were being harrassed by those three guys and you thought it might be them), take full responsibility for your actions, and ask for leniency. If the police officer who wrote you the ticket doesn't show up, there's a chance the judge may throw it out. If he does show up, however, you don't want to say ANYTHING negative about the police officer or else you'll look like a whiny-@$$ with an attitude problem. Be smart, be respectful, show the judge that you take this very seriously, and there's a good chance the judge will knock it down to a lesser offense or reduce the fine.

Answer 3

If he wrote 88-90 mph, that's going to be a difficult one to fight. As sad as it is, any law enforcement officer's word in a courtroom is considered by judges to be the absolute truth.
Chances are he may not have had radar or any other device to detect your speed within his cruiser if it's an unmarked car. Unless he's state police or highway patrol . In the city of Cleveland, most units do not have radar. But if an officer sees you speeding and it's obvious to him that you are well over the speed limit, which is what your officer had decided he'll say in court that he had to go 100MPH to catch up with you, and that you were 3 miles ahead of him, and it took him X amount of minutes or seconds to catch up with you. They'll give his mathmatical estimate credit . What was the speed limit ? Hopefully where you live it's at least 70-75.

Answer 4

Well do you have any evidence or support for you position? other than the perception of yoru acceleration I mean.

You can try a not guilty plea, however most traffic court judges will side with the officer at the drop of a hat.

If you have a relatively clean driving record otherwise you may want to try a 'plea of abeyance' . You will probably have to meet with the prosecuting attorney and see if they will make that deal with you.
How that works is you pay the fine but no negative marks on the condition that you dont get any tickets for the next 6-9 months ( thats usually the time ).

Answer 5

Well, since you know where the courthouse is...you fight it by going to court and pointing out that the ticket is not completed properly.

You might want to take a gander at the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction about citations. Does he need to complete that block in order for it to be a valid ticket?

Warning: If you go to fight it and the citing officer is there to testify, the judge may just say "well there's your answer, Speed Racer. He paced you in his cruiser."

He also may have been going 88-90 and just tagged you with his speed rather than yours...in essence, cutting you a break.

Answer 6

Alright I dont know how much time you have to do this but. I know that you can go to the court house and it is public record. Find out if the cops ceritification for the radar gun has expired or the last time the gun was last calibrated. if any document is out of date the case is thrown out. Otherwise go to court with the cash for the ticket and tell the judge that you can not afford to lose any points you are a safe driver and yada yada. Tell him that you can pay the ticket right now if the points are dropped. Belive me that does work....b Good luck..

Answer 7

Depends on the state involved. It's not a guranteed throw out of the ticket with such usually. Again, varies from state to state. The only way for you to win is to prove the radar/lidar gun was calibrated incorrectly, or the estimation based off the squad car was wrong, but you'd need the speed variance report off the car for it. He may have paced you to determine your speed. Or your speed was determined by aircraft.

Answer 8

If you say he was riding your bumper he was probably doing a bumper clock. It is where you pace the car and get the speed off of the patrol vehicles calibrated speedometer. While YOUR citation may not have the method he probably took notes on the agency copy of the ticket.

Answer 9

In Colorado you don't talk to the judge unless you go to trial. You first talk to the D.A. & they give you a deal. If you like what they offer you that's the end of it. If you don"t like what the want to give you then you set up a court date. Try NOT to tell them you were going fast but not as fast as the cop says you were. In this state they go on what your record is like. If it's your first time then they tend to let you go with a deferred sentence. You know, If you don't do anything for a year then you have the charges dropped.

Answer 10

Yeah, save the excuse train. Hand it to a traffic attorney and have him fix it for you. They want your money.

Oh...and you obviously have not heard this one "you may be able to out-run a police car, but you cannot out-run his radio"