Speeding 78 in 65, VC 22349(A)

[Another wretched]

My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: CA
Hello,
I have got a speeding ticket 22349(a) from CHP in the monterey county. This is my first ticket. I want to keep my records clean and I am planning to contest this citation.
My due-date falls on 11/23.
Here are my questions
1. Which is the best time to start Informal Discovery request?
2. I am planning to send my IDR to CA and DA? Is this sufficient? I read in this forum to send to citing agency, but as per the law they are only evidences?
3. I received a Courtesy Notice yesterday from the court, which has a form with multiple options[bail forfeiture, TBD, Trial in person, Traffic school etc]. I am planning to ask for TBD by attaching my bail amount. Is this need to be served by anyone other than me? I do not have a friend/relation who stays in the same county as me, in this case how do I get proof of service? Is this really necessary? If necessary, then for which documents, documents served to court or served to prosecutor or for both?
4. Is the due-date is for paying the bail and requesting for TBD? Will I get a new due-date for submitting my TDB?
5. CHP clocked me with RADAR and I was not pretty sure whether he clocked the car in-front of me. I was driving a compact car and a SUV was on my left lane. He changed lanes to come in-front of me and he was driving faster than me and he disappeared. When I saw the cop on the right shoulder of the road, the SUV was right in-front of me. Is there a chance that the COP RADAR clocked the SUV speed and COP mistakenly identified me as the SPEEDER. In this case what is the chance for winning this case?

Thanks in Advance

[Mr. Knowitall]

1. There's no time like the present.

2. If you've read the threads, you know the standard advice.

3. If you want somebody to hand-deliver your documents to the court and get a time-stamped copy for your records, that's something pretty much anybody can do.

4. Read this.

5. Claiming the officer clocked somebody other than you as your only defense? I've never seen it work.

[HonkingAntelope]

VC22349A/B citations are nearly impossible to beat in a court trial and your best bet is to hope the officer won't show up or file his paperwork on time. The odds of either one of these happening are good enough to make it worthwhile. That being said, everyone's gotta start somewhere.

At this point, I wouldn't bother with filing discovery or anything like that. Just go ahead, get as many extensions as you can over the phone and then file the simple 'i am not guilty' declaration and leave it at that for now. If you win, great! If not, you can file informal discovery when you prepare for the trial de novo.

[Another wretched]

Thanks for your advice Knowitall and HonkingAntelope.
I will keep you posted about the status of my case.

I am still not clear about the proof of service.
My friends or whoever with me do not want to get into trouble (not sure what is the trouble here) by signing proof of service. If I do not have proof of service for my documents, will my document submission invalid?
Also, is this only for prosecutor related document or court related document or for both?

[Another wretched]

I was reading through this forum for a while now.
I came across the following thread
http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106823

In this thread, That Guy says request for TBD [not TR-205] should be submitted before the date printed on the citation. I have a got a 60 days extension period for my citation.
In this case, can I submit request for TBD [Courtest notice has a small form with diff options, trial-de-novo, tbd, etc.], TR-205 [Request for Trial By Declaration Form], bail amount near to end of the 60 day period.

I know this questions may be little clunky, but I am little confused now.
Can any one shred some light on the TBD process.

Thanks

[That Guy]

I was reading through this forum for a while now.
I came across the following thread
http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106823

In this thread, That Guy says request for TBD [not TR-205] should be submitted before the date printed on the citation. I have a got a 60 days extension period for my citation.
In this case, can I submit request for TBD [Courtest notice has a small form with diff options, trial-de-novo, tbd, etc.], TR-205 [Request for Trial By Declaration Form], bail amount near to end of the 60 day period.

I know this questions may be little clunky, but I am little confused now.
Can any one shred some light on the TBD process.

Thanks

Yes, you can submit a request for a TBD after an extension... That does not necessarily mean that the court will approve your request. It depends on the court, and how strict they are about following that particular rule of court that disqualifies you after an extension.

[HonkingAntelope]

Yes, you can submit a request for a TBD after an extension... That does not necessarily mean that the court will approve your request. It depends on the court, and how strict they are about following that particular rule of court that disqualifies you after an extension.

I always ask for an extension over the phone and I never had any trouble getting a TBD from the clerk after the date printed on the ticket.

[That Guy]

I always ask for an extension over the phone and I never had any trouble getting a TBD from the clerk after the date printed on the ticket.

Read paragraph (3) and then refer back to paragraph (2):

California Rules of Court
Rule 4.210. Traffic court—trial by written declaration
(b) Procedure

(2) Extending due date

If the clerk receives the defendant’s written request for a trial by
written declaration by the appearance date indicated on the Notice to
Appear, the clerk must, within 15 calendar days after receiving the
defendant’s written request, extend the appearance date 25 calendar
days and must give or mail notice to the defendant of the extended due
date on the Request for Trial by Written Declaration (form TR-205)
with a copy of the Instructions to Defendant (form TR-200) and any
other required forms.
(3) Election
The defendant must file a Request for Trial by Written Declaration
(form TR-205) with the clerk by the appearance date indicated on the
Notice to Appear or the extended due date as provided in (2). The
Request for Trial by Written Declaration (form TR-205) must be filed
in addition to the defendant’s written request for a trial by written
declaration, unless the defendant’s request was made on the election
form.

That to me, means that the TBD form TR-205 must be submitted by the date on the Notice To Appear or, the defendant can request the TBD forms from the clerk and submit for TR-205 on or before the 25 day "extension date" clerk given by the clerk to the defendant to submit his/her written declaration.

In other words, if you request the 60 day auto extension (online or by phone) OR the 30 day extension from the clerk, and then later requesting a TBD, your request can be rejected.

It seems that at least one court has caught on to that little detail. You can check the link that this OP provided for a case where that is exactly what happened.

[Another wretched]

Did anyone used cover letter from helpigotaticket.com for sending IDR.
Is the cover letter really needed?