OT - Ever been accused, fought it, and won in court?

[LiveMusic]

Years ago, I was stopped by a cop, who said I was speeding in a school zone. I was flabbergasted; I told him so. He said I could fight it if I so chose. I told him "Ok, I'll see you in court." I showed up and represented myself. Lady judge. Officer was called to the stand, gave his testimony. Judge then asked me "Do you care to cross-examine?" or something to that effect. I said yes. I then asked the officer, "Officer, was I on the north side of the intersection or the south side? "North side," he said. "Was I accelerating or decelerating?" "Accelerating," he replied. I turned to the judge and said "Your honor, with all due respect to the officer here, I submit that his testimony is incorrect. That what he states is impossible. Reason why is because that is a stoplight, which I stopped for. The only way possible for me to be accelerating and him clocking me on the north side of that intersection is for me to run the redlight." She slammed her gavel down and said "Case dismissed."

[Tedster]

I am currently fighting a case with the bastard evil missouri state highway patrol. I'll elaborate more later. Suffice it to say that cops aren't necessarily the good guys. If you believe they are, fine, but sooner or later you will cross paths with one or more who will totally destroy your trust in the legal system.

[SFOracle]

I beat a speeding ticket once. I was caught on a frontage road that paralleled a major highway and a set of railroad tracks. I was sure I wasn't speeding because I had just turned onto the road and hadn't even got out of 2nd gear when I was caught. I figured that the Mountie's (this was in BC) radar gun had picked up either a passing train or a truck or something on the highway rather than my little VW on the frontage road. I went to court armed with a freight train schedule from a traffic controller for CN (a rail company in Canada) that indicated there were two different trains that could have been on that track at that time. I was all prepared to do a Perry Mason routine. The Mountie didn't show up for court - so there was no evidence to present against me. I won by default. Would have been more fun if I could have cross examined the officer.

[LiveMusic]

[quote]Originally posted by SFOracle: [b]... I won by default. Would have been more fun if I could have cross examined the officer.[/b][/quote]Believe me, you are right... fun. Yep, I loved it when the judge threw it out.

[Soundcrafter]

"The two sweetest words in the English language! De Fault! De Fault! De Fault!" -Homer Simpson

[Dylan]

I wish. Last year I got a ticket for supposedly running a yellow light. Not red, but yellow. The intersection where this happened has a photo system in place to catch people running red lights. Surprise, surprise, the photo radar wasn't triggered when I drove through. The cop pulled me over because he thought I had time to stop and shouldn't have gone into the intersection. $175 ticket. Went to court, argued, and lost. They dropped the fine to $115, but big fucking deal :mad: ! I was still out 2 hours for work on top of the money they stole from me :evil: .

[Dak Lander]

Dillweed, Next time, if ever, that happens, insist on a jury trial. Even in Oregon that should still be one of your constitutional rights. A jury would have acquitted, in all probability.

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by LiveMusic: [b] She slammed her gavel down and said "Case dismissed."[/b][/quote]That rules. You're my hero. I recently decided not to move to another part of town, mainly because I'd have to drive through a KNOWN speed trap daily. I used to have a gig that was a club along this road, and during breaks you could stand outside and watch as the cops, one by one, pulled over hapless drivers going 5mph over in a 30 mph (cleverly disguised by having the 30 mph sign about 150 feet in front of ANOTHER sign that says "35"...). Never drive through, or give your patronage to Stark county, Florida. It's almost surreal - they've got timing marks on the roads to catch people, they pulled me over for going 2 mph (2!) in a 30.. Let me go, but gave me all sorts of hassles "why yer eyes red, bo?" "because I WEAR CONTACTS"... Tried to give me a ticket for not wearing my seat belt - which I had to unfasten to OPEN THE GLOVE BOX TO GET MY REGISTRATION OUT, which really pissed me off because I used to wear my belt BEFORE it was a law... anyhow... There's another county down there, I can't remember the name of it, that's just about as bad. You pull through town and there's a guy hiding behind the trees, just like in Dukes of Hazzard... Oh well.

[ElGenius1]

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaann....i hate cops. i recently got a ticket for just crossing a little piece of a divider, and this bitch cop woman saw me and gave me a ticket. funny thing is, she 'let go' another person that did the same thing, but gave ME the ticket. and I DONT EVEN LIVE in the area where i got the ticket. This woman cop is ridiculous. I always see her giving out tickets at the SAME SPOT at around the same time every morning. She got different wigs, too. I seen her with a black wig, blonde wig, and a red wig, on different days. Ugly-ass woman too. I should have fought it, but i decided to let these bastards win this time. Tickets are ridiculous, like 100 bucks for some stupid shit.

[not coaster MODERATOR]

We have those photo tickets all over town now. I've removed my front plate and hide behind the sun visor just as the picture is taken. Morons down at headquarters gotta love that.

[Tedster]

[quote]Originally posted by Dillweed: [b]I wish. Last year I got a ticket for supposedly running a yellow light. Not red, but yellow. The intersection where this happened has a photo system in place to catch people running red lights. Surprise, surprise, the photo radar wasn't triggered when I drove through. The cop pulled me over because he thought I had time to stop and shouldn't have gone into the intersection. $175 ticket. Went to court, argued, and lost. They dropped the fine to $115, but big fucking deal :mad: ! I was still out 2 hours for work on top of the money they stole from me :evil: .[/b][/quote]AT LEAST YOU FOUGHT THE MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Don't forget, the bastards had to show up too, hopefully on their day off...or after they got off a midnight shift or something. Okay, let me get another drink, and then the Tedster will tell ya all his story. Motherfuckers. First off, I've always been the kind of guy who, if I'm nabbed fair and square, I'll pay my fine and take my medicine like a man. That said...more and more the cops are playing fucking games to nail people...following too closely to try to get people to speed up...shit like that. That I won't stand for. And, I will ALWAYS fight it. I don't give a shit if I lose...at least they'll know that I'm gonna be a thorn in their side. How? First of all...[b]Always get as many continuances as you can[/b]. So, you've got to go to court on your day off after a midnight shift. So does the cop. I got this from my lawyer...go on your appointed day, and tell the judge you need a continuance. The first one is generally automatic. The second one, pretty much, although you may have to listen to a short lecture about how the "poor cop" has had to show up twice so far. At least your bugging the crap out of the cop. But be prepared to defend yourself the second day. My case began shortly before Christmas. I was driving home from work at 4 am (you're a target at that time of night). I was in the right lane. Car approaches from behind as if to pass...pulls into the left lane, rides my BLIND SPOT for TWO MILES. No other cars on the road. Meanwhile, I need to make a left turn and can't because some dickweed is in the left lane blocking me. Very distracting. I put on my turn signal as my road approaches...dickweed backs off (I didn't know HOW BIG a dickweed at the time)...I make my turn, and dickweed turns behind me and puts on the lights. A state trooper. Had no idea until then. The kid is a total prick. Says I was exceeding the speed limit by 20 mph in a construction zone. No construction where I was at...orange barrels only as I approached my turn, by which time I was slowing down to turn anyway. To top it off...went back and took a picture of the speed limit sign...I was only exceeding by 5 mph. Buttlicker. It was just a harassment stop. The buttwad just wanted to know what I was doing on the road at that time of night. So...I'm on my second continuance. Doesn't matter if I win or lose...I'm READY FOR A FIGHT.

[Chip McDonald]

[quote]Originally posted by Tedster: [b][QUOTE]Originally posted by Dillweed: [qb]That said...more and more the cops are playing fucking games to nail people...following too closely to try to get people to speed up...shit like that. That I won't stand for. [/b][/quote]EXACTLY. I've brake tested a cop before and heard him squeal his brakes to avoid rear ending my car. They do that a lot here for some reason.... Meanwhile, bozos that drive recklessly - like stopping traffic to let one person into traffic, or not signaling, or making an oncoming traffic lane a turn lane, or some other insanity - nothing happens. It would seem the only thing that matters is speeding, regardless of the situation. Not to mention the other thread here somewhere alluding to various DUI situations... I live in a rather "less than affluent" neighborhood and it was interesting to drive around New Year's eve and see all the cars being pulled over for license and spurious DUI checks - meanwhile there's nothing being done about the drunk bourgeoisie around the corner driving off in their BMW's and Cadillac SUV's from the country club. I HATE crap like that...

[DC]

Hmmm, many years ago I got in trouble with speeding tickets. I got put on probation and then fell victom to a speeding trap on a military base. It's 35 mph, you go under a bridge and IMMEDIATELY there was a 15 mph sign and the MP barricks. So everyone tells me the judge at this base hates long hairs and I'm done for unless I move my trial which I did. I get to the big city on the trial date and some mean spirited lady who never identified herself comes storming up to me and says; "You move your trials up here just to try and get a better deal! You'd better send it right back!" and storms off. I'm thinking what in the world was that all about? Then I start getting nervious cos there's all these murder, rape, big deal trials being set up for dates and such and here comes my lowly traffic court deal. So that bitch storms up to the judge and says I want my trial moved back to where it originated from. She's the f*cking prosecuting attorney! I stood up and said; "I want my trial held here, today, in front of you, your honor." Man, she blew a head gasket. She stormed around and stomped and it was obvious that the judge was getting peeved. So anyway, I tell him my story and explain that I really need to avoid any points on my license at this time. He asks the prosecutor what she reccommends and she says due to the expense of moving the trial blah blah blah, $250.00. He slams down the gavel and says $25.00. She almost had a stroke, but I had a nice day. Kept my license too. On a related point, when we left (my keyboard playing buddy was with me as my witness if need be), we went and bought a bunch of booze to celebrate and drove home. Man have times changed. Back in the olden days, it seems like you always got a beer for the road or whatever. I guess I'm really lucky I never had any problem with it, in the 70's and 80's I did drunk tests on numerous occations and always passed, but the stories I hear now days. It's little wonder no one goes out anymore. I'm scared shitless to drink and drive now altho I consider myself very good at it. At least well practiced.

[strat0124]

No Teflon Don's here???????? I just ain't never been caught! :)

[Charlie-brm]

[quote]Originally posted by DC: [b]I'm thinking what in the world was that all about? Then I start getting nervious cos there's all these murder, rape, big deal trials being set up for dates and such and here comes my lowly traffic court deal. [/b][/quote]You clued in DC. I thought this thread might have something more important than beating traffic tickets. When my lawyer left to take a whiz, I gleamed some forms on his desk I could read upside down from my chair and the cases are nasty stuff that hadn't made it to the news yet. And I thought I was in big trouble with my deal. (Actually I was but it's not open for discussion) And Judge Judy isn't far from reality. A judge even thinks you're bull-shitting them and you've lost a powerful ally. One time a guy ahead of me in night court spun a tale and the JP is paying attention and nodding, until the he pulls up the driving record on his computer and took what seemed an eternity to read the screen. "Well, you were doing very well up to this point sir." That put the whole room in stitches. Anyone who bitches about a traffic offence should have to sit through a few hours of court ordered driver's ed with a room full of outspoken morons that will be leaving the parking lot at the same time as you and be on the road again. That scared me more than the grisly crash footage on the classroom screen. FWI, that was a result of a "guilty with an explanation" we're allowed here on traffic offences. Rather than split hairs, say you did it with extenuating circumstances and save wasting everyone's time.