can i fight it ..ticket?

Question

CAN I FIGHT IT!!!. I was pulled over on january 4 at night.
when i asked the officer the reason why he stopped me he said it was because i was driving
at 42 on a 30 zone.

before he stopped me i was on a two way road on right in front of the elementary school
.the officer was right behind me on his SUV and i felt he was rushing me because he was tailgating me . since the two way was about to become a two late i stepped on the gas of my car to hurry and let the tailgater pass me and right after that the officer turn his light on me.

i explained to the officer that the reason i accelerated my car was because i obviously didnt know he was a cop and i felt that he was rushing me and thats when i stepped on the gas. he told me that he clock me way back about 3 blocks as he was driving on the opposite lane. my question is " if he clock me back 3 block behind as he was driving on the opposite lane why didnt he turn his light on at that moment and why did he still chased me for about 3 block and tailed gated me and waited until i accelerated to turn his light on me?" i truly believe i was stopped unfairly because i just recentrly moved to texas and my car still has the california license plates on. one more thing , after he had seen the registration with the new address of texas he asked me if i live here now, and he also asked me if i had a job already. questions that didnt make no sence to me.? i honestly believe i was not going over the speed and that he pulled me over unfairly. what can i do. can he clock me while he is driving on the opposite lane? please respond. i will appreciate it to hear what you think. thank you

Answer 1

I am a police detective. First thing is you didnt say how you were "clocked". The citation should clearly state how your speed was measured by the officer. If it states you were measured by "moving clock" then no, he wouldnt be able to clock you going the opposite way. If by radar then yes he could and not likely by laser. "Moving clock" is nothing more than the officer using his or her certified speedometer in the cruiser and comparing the cruiser speed to yours. For moving clock violations you do need a set distance to be followed. If, however, you were clocked by radar and he turned around and was just following you gathering information or looking for a safe place to pull you over, then you will have an uphill battle in court.

You definitely can fight the citation. I can assure you it would be nothing personal to the officer. No matter how you were clocked you can certainly take it to trial. Simply state what you have here. If in fact you were speeding, it was because you felt you were being tailgated and wanted to get out of the way. Will that defense work? Maybe yes and maybe no. Texas is a hard law and order state. Odds are though even if you were found guilty, the fine would likely be the same or less than just paying the citation out by mail. If you decide to go to court but really dont want to take it to trial, you can always cut a deal with the prosecutor.

If you tell the prosecutor you are likely to take it to trial, they may be willing to make a deal to avoid and time and expense. A deal like if you agree to plead no contest or guilty then you would only pay court costs or have no points cited to your license. You could do this on your own. You certainly do not need an attorney for this small charge. Keep in mind though if you do take it to trial, you yourself will be the attorney. You will have the right to ask the officer questions in that trial which could go in your favor. You will go on the stand and be asked questions by the prosecutor and then at the end will be able to make your own statement.

Regardless, if you feel you were cited unjustly. Appear on the court date on the citation and plead not guilty. A trial date then will be made and you can try to cut a deal or challenge it in court. You can even try the deal on the initial court date. Either way, exercise your right to a trial if you feel you have been treated unfairly. It is not personal to the officer and you shouldnt take it personally. If you win or lose the officer doesnt feel one way or another about it unless there was some particular circumstances involved.

Take it to trial, know your facts, stick to your story and be honest and professional. You may be surprised how it turns out.

Answer 2

Firstly being clocked by the police officer in the opposite lane is very common. Have you heard of moving Radar? that is how it is possible. As far as fighting it. I say go ahead if you are right and you have a reasonable defense then you have as much chance as winning as the officer does. Contray to some comments cops do not take speed personal they do not lie and they do not make "commission" on the amount of tickets written. Tickets are given to correct dangerous practices.

Answer 3

You can fight any ticket. Though from what you decribed, your probably better off just paying it. Even if by a long shot, the judge by some miracle takes your word over a cop, you still are going to pay the fine. If you are threatend by a tailgater, your expected to pull over, and not speed in a elementary school zone.

Answer 4

yes he can clock you going the opposite way. he probably waited to pull you over because he was running your license plates to see if he should have his weapon ready.

Just cause someone is tailgating doesn't mean you should speed. I really doubt you can win this one.

Dallas had traffic school of some sort (hubby took it) in 95 or 96 (before we moved away)

Answer 5

Police have mobile radar in their vehicles that allow them to clock the speed of vehicles coming in the opposite direction. The officer was following you because he was probably waiting for your vehicle registration information to come back and to check to see if you had any cautions or warrants before stopping you. Sometimes police radios have lots of chatter on them and you have to wait a little while before you have a chance to call in vehicle information or the officer may have been waiting for a well lit safer place to pull you over. There is no law stating that we have to pull cars over immediately, sometimes it is safer to wait to have more information or to wait for back up units to be closer. The fact that he waited to stop you does not mean you will get out of a ticket.

Answer 6

I know in california you can fight it through the mail. Its called a "trial by written decleration." If you go to this URL,

http://ticketassassin.com/docs112383/forms.html

it shows you how to fight them. Since you got the ticket in Texas I'm not sure if the same laws apply. You may want to do some research. I know I beat two of my tickets through the mail and it saved me over 500 dollars and I never once had to show my face in court! Good luck!

Answer 7

Yes, you can fight it. The problem is that often times cops don't like to be proven wrong. In addition, the judical system doesn't like to prove cops wrong. I, myself, am arguing over wording in a police report about an accident. The officer who spoke with me quoted me as saying it was all my fault when I never said such a thing. My father was there with me at the time too and verified it. Though, it's difficult to win a case against a cop. They make livings in being right about the law. Good luck though. I like cops... they keep me safe. But they piss me off sometimes.

Answer 8

doesn't mater what you said or did or what the cop told you..
you can fight every ticket,,just be prepared to pay some lawyer to do the work.. otherwise you are wasting your time in court because you will lose 90% of the time without council

Answer 9

you can fight it but you'll never win. Everybody knows the pigs all lie. Look at the Rodney King case. You get to a jury trial ,all the jurors will be white haired 60 year old church women that believe everything they are told. Your fate is sealed, that's the system...

Answer 10

yup, it's pointless to fight a ticket .
The judge is always gonna believe the cop.
Unless, you hire a lawyer?
Then he can pose the question?
" When was the Radar Gun, last calibrated" ???
How accurate are they?????...... so on? and so on??
Just enough to cast a shadow of a doubt!!!

That's all you need.

If you have the "gift of the gab" ????

Then fight it.