I was driving north on a State Highway when I notice an Indiana State Trooper going the opposit direction. I saw him in my mirror as he turned around in the grass medum. Shortly after that he pulled me over and gave me a ticket. I advised him I was not speeding and he told me to state my case in court. I went to court and plead not guilt. We are set for trail next month. Most people I have talked too (including an Attorney) has indicated that more than likely I will be "rail roaded". I'm not guilt - so how do I prove it? Hope our Justice System Works.
2007-11-13 06:30:53 · 9 answers · asked by randyya_randyyaa 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Start doing your research. You are probably right. Speed radar is subject to a problem called "cosine error" - basically anything not moving directly toward the speed gun gets it's speed reported as actual speed times cosine of the angle. Object moving directly toward the gun, cosine equals 1, speed is same as speed of object. Object moving 90 degrees across guns field of view, cosine equals zero, speed reported as zero.
Some may say that cosine error can only make the radar gun report a speed that is lower than your actual speed. This is true for a stationary radar gun. However, when police use the radar gun while moving the gun has to look at two return signals and calculate two speeds - speed of police car and speed of your car relative to police car. Since you are approaching it subtracts the speed of the police car from the speed of your car relative to the police car to get the absolute speed of your car. If it has a large cosine error on the speed of the police car then it subtracts too little and calculates an absolute speed for your car that is incorrectly high.
The gun is trying to calculate the police car's speed based on the biggest return signal it sees - normally this is the buildings and trees and stuff directly in front of the police car and it's accurate. But if the car is passing a big billboard or parked truck or something that is off to the side of the road - say at 45 degrees to the police car's line of travel (cosine =.707) it's going to get a big, wrong return and calculate a wrong speed for the cop car.
You don't want to be belligerant with the cop - the judge won't like that. But be sympathetic - he's got a lot on his hands - drive the car, see the speed readout on his gun, observe oncoming traffic and try to corrctly identify which of many oncoming cars is the one the gun is reporting speed for, observe his surroundings looking for onjects that could cause a large cosine error on his speed and make the number wrong. Is he absolutely confident that he got it all right? Can he show that the gun had a clean view ahead with a nice stationary target for calculating his speed and no large stationary targets off of his line of travel that might have confused the gun? Get him to stammer just once and you're done.
Best of luck - you could still get railroaded.
2007-11-13 06:49:21 · answer #1 · answered by Mike 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
the 1st element you should understand is why they supply dashing tickets, and all different tickets. Tickets was the thank you to end people from undesirable using, then they found out to truly jack the rates up and it is now a revenues source. License suspension is now the thank you to objective and end undesirable drivers. So, given this, you may circulate to courtroom and plead no longer to blame. Make a video tape of the truck on the same place and practice it can not get going that rapid in the form of short while which will practice it to the decide and he will locate you no longer to blame. possibly. specific, possibly, possibly he will say your husband replaced into no longer stopped on the pink gentle and locate him to blame because of the fact he does not choose for to anger the cop and lose money. Judges are elected and in the event that they get on the undesirable ingredient of the cops they could be in difficulty next election. SO, it is complicated. the very maximum suitable option? See if he can get site visitors college and pay a small quantity and not have it on his checklist and settle for the device for what it is. good luck and GOD BLESS
2016-10-16 09:31:12 · answer #2 · answered by federica 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What evidence do you have to show that you were not speeding?
Here are possibilities:
(1) Equipment was malfunctioning... the radar read that you were speeding, but you weren't.
(2) Cop mistakenly read the equipment (i.e. misread a number)
(3) The radar gun measured the speed of another car around you. Was that the case?
(4) Weather or other conditions made the radar measure unreliable.
(5) Cop was just lying; he wanted you to get a ticket for some evil purpose. [nearly impossible to prove.]
Just saying "I wasn't speeding," is probably not going to defeat the government's burden. You have to have an ACTUAL explanation for the inconsistency between your stories. Do you know you weren't speeding? Was YOUR spedometer calibrated properly? Were cars passing you? Were you passing cars?
Talk to your attoney; he will have the best idea how to present your case.
2007-11-13 07:00:57 · answer #3 · answered by Perdendosi 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
From your question, I gather that the state trooper was driving at the time he supposedly saw you speeding. Did he say he clocked you speeding with a radar gun? Or did he just eyeball it and use his experience to say you were speeding. If he was driving, I would find it unlikely for him to be pointing a radar gun at you while he's driving in the opposite direction. If he used the gun, what did he say your clocked speed was? The fact of the matter is that it is up to the prosecution to prove you WERE speeding, not up to you to prove you were not speeding. The burden of proof is the same regardless of whether it's a speeding ticket or a murder case. They have the burden, not you. However, if he did clock you with a radar gun, that is pretty strong proof on their part.
2007-11-13 06:42:04 · answer #4 · answered by Heather Mac 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Show evidence you were not speeding. The officer already has his evidence, the speed indicated on the radar unit.
The only thing I have seen work in this case is you can beat the ticket if the radar unit was not properly calibrated. However, this is pretty unlikely as they know this too and keep them in calibration.
2007-11-13 06:36:15 · answer #5 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is up to the arresting officer to prove that you _were_ speeding.
If he has you on video/radar/lidar, your'e done.
If he does not, then it's a "he-said/she-said" situation and you should come out the winner.
The burden of proof is on the accuser. At least for now.
2007-11-13 06:40:20 · answer #6 · answered by credo quia est absurdum 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They have to have your speed clocked and recorded if they want to fight it in court.. If they don't (which if you weren't they could not have clocked you) then it will be thrown out. And even if they do they must have had the gun calibrated shortly before.
I believe if your attorney told you this he/she is incorrect, and in most speeding cases the DA will offer you a reduction before wasting the courts time.
2007-11-13 06:44:15 · answer #7 · answered by Ditka 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
8 out of 10 times the cop does not show up for court. They only get about 15 dollars to appear. So just go and cross your fingers.
2007-11-13 06:43:27 · answer #8 · answered by Ej K 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Request the reading of the radar gun as proof in your favor
Thats all you have. That's what he says he was going by. Then go with it. Win Lose or Draw.
2007-11-13 06:39:54 · answer #9 · answered by nutsfornouveau 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋