It was almost midnight and I was driving my dark colored buick lesabre through the mountains heading home. It was a little fogy and there was very light rain, but very dark. The road was full of turns and hills. So I was cruising along and there were a few other cars passing by every short while, a couple of which passed me (2 lane road) WELL, out of knowwhere I see a car gaining up on me REAL quick and then the blue lights came on! Cop pulls me over and gives me a ticket for going 70 in a 50! I asked to see the radar, but he refused. I told him that it wasn't me speeding and a dark car similar to mine had passed me going real fast moments earlier before he pulled me over, but he started swearing at me! I got the B.S. ticket and went home. The next day I carefully examined the ticket and he wrote a reckless driving charge! And he noted two street names, one was where he apparently caught me speeding and the other where he actually pulled me over. So, I went back on the same road and found out that the two street names were close to 2 miles apart!!! Yet the road I was on was full of large wide turns and hills and you couldn’t see more than ¼ ahead because of a large turn or hill that lasted another ¼ mile! So the cop DID lose sight of the car he intended to pull over WAY before 2 miles! He pretty much guessed it was me, that was it!!! I told the cop when he pulled me over that it wasn’t me but he said “I don’t care!”
And then he filled the ticket out wrong and put down that I can just pay the ticket over the phone, but when I called in to see how much it was, the office lady told me that a reckless driving ticket cannot be paid over the phone and you must show up in court!
I got a lawyer and went to court and got the ticket reduced to just a plain old expensive speeding ticket. I spent $1,000 for lawyer fees and the ticket in all for NOTHING! To this day, I still feel that I should have gotten out of it completely, but they just believe the cops. I need to ask this question and get it off my shoulders! What do you think about this? Thanks!
2007-08-09 17:10:21 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
I completely agree with you. If the police just lost sight of you and then guessed, how can he be sure you are the guy going 20 over. Most cops, however, are complete jerks and don't listen to anything you say. I'm sorry for you; that really sucks.
2007-08-09 17:17:24 · answer #1 · answered by bamarules1789 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First, it does appear that you were charged accordingly, however if your vehicle was not visible for any length of time, then you should not have been cited with a ticket. I’m not sure that you would have the right to see the radar, although it would seem that there would be no reason for withholding that from you. The Constitution states that you have the right to face your accusers.
I will give my advice, but before I do I would wonder why you would pay a lawyer $1000. This does make it seem that you were guilty of the infraction or why would you pay that? You could have had a court appointed attorney to represent you if you were innocent. I will not judge you since it is not my place to do that and I happen to agree with your situation.
Now my advice. Write to the Governor of your state and tell him/her what you stated in what you told me. The Governor of a state does not have to power of pardon, but relies on a board of Clemency, which consists of 4 members. Explain your situation and ask for a pardon due to the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence that the officer who cited you did not have clear and continuation of your vehicle. A citation must have clear and concise knowledge of the vehicle that is being cited. If the officer lost eye contact with your vehicle for even a moment, then you should not be cited for a crime.
If you take this step, it is one that most people do not do. Therefore, your case will be considered because not many people go to that trouble. However, the testimony of the officer who gave you the ticket might be considered, but if he is honest and under oath, he will have to say that he lost sight of your car, which would mean that it might not have been your car that he used the radar on.
In this appeal, you would probably win, but you are out your $1000. Your attorney was slack as I would have better represented you.
2007-08-09 20:19:46 · answer #2 · answered by Boomer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that you had an opportunity to subpeona the video footage of the stop and you did not. If you were serious about pushing back on this ticket, that was probably your only recourse.
Remember that police are people too, and they get that, "it was some other car" line 50 times a week. It gets old after a while, and you were probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
There is no excuse for a lack of professionalism, however - and it would have been appropriate for you to follow up with that officer's supervisor if he was swearing at you. Again, they are people too - and they still have to answer for their behavior.
2007-08-09 17:24:41 · answer #3 · answered by greeneyedprincess 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you can be charged with it....just because you didn't receive a notice of the ticket in the mail doesn't relieve you of the ticket. I imagine it is a warrant by now. Go to court and hope the officer doesn't show..that will be the only way you can get out of it. Be advised you may have more than one court appearance before it is dismissed.
2016-05-18 05:09:20 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say that you have a valid point, and if you still have the desire to do so you should probably pursue the matter. Nobody benefits when laws are enforced unfairly. I don't know if you have any legal options at this point, but you can certainly do the bulk of the legal work yourself if you do.
Good luck. Judges are dependent on what they're told, and they usually prefer to have records set straight.
2007-08-09 17:19:09 · answer #5 · answered by 2n2222 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can understand your frustration with this situation but letting it irk you for years afterward is taking precious minutes from your life. This is taking way too much out of you so don't let it. You have a clear conscience that you were innocent of the charge unlike a great many people asking questions here. Unless there is something you can do to change it now, let it go.
2007-08-09 17:22:19 · answer #6 · answered by Tellin' U Da Truth! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lawyer did a poor job representing you. Seems like you could have appealled, but most people wouldn't bother for just a speeding ticket.
2007-08-09 17:17:07 · answer #7 · answered by freedom_vs_slavery 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yup, he bent ya over
2007-08-09 17:26:58 · answer #8 · answered by Kmmv 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋