Washington State Speeding Ticket Notice of Discovery

[yoshibond]

My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: Washington

I am new to the forum; however, I have read the gudies on the forum regarding the speeding ticket appeal process and notice of discovery procedures for the state that have been posted. I am unclear of a couple of facts specific to my ticket:

1) The hearing is scheduled for Oct 1, 2010 while the notice was post-marked Sept 10, 2010. This is exactly 21 days. The relevant code states that it must be sent within 21 days prior - is this included 21 days (i.e. >=) or within (i.e. > 21 days). Is this in compliance with the timing requirements?

2) I live in Canada and therefore I believe there is minor delay in receiving the notice of hearing for my ticket. I received the ticket via mail today (Sept 15th) and my understanding is that I must have my notice of discovery served with 14 days (Sept 17). This is logistically impossible as I would need to contact the court clerk, find the address to serve and have a registered letter arrive within the next 48 hours? Is this the case or does the mailbox rule apply (i.e. post-marked by this Friday)? Regardless, this timeline seems abit unrealistic.

3) How do I find the address to serve noted above? Should I look up the phone number of the clerk and request contact information for the prosectutor? I cannot see any other way to meet his 14 day requirement.

Thanks for your help! The guide on this forum was great but I just cannot diffeniteively figure out the questions above.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Sorry - forgot to mention the ticket is for Snohomish County.

[yoshibond]

Anyone know?

[plex]

I would assume the worst, and anticipate that whatever date is marked on the envelope, starts the clock. There may be a definition of this in the vehicle code book, rules of the court or call the clerk and ask.

If you're not worried about a speedy trial, you can explain to the clerk you don't live in Washington and need to have the arraignment pushed back another month to allow adequate time for your discovery paperwork to return. It can take a few days for the mail to reach the court, the court is usually allowed 10-15days to respond (look in court rules for that county) and then another couple of days for the discovery to get back to you. You can also tag a few more days for prep time once you do get the discovery paperwork.


If you google the county municipal court, the police dept of the city you got the ticket in and "office of the prosecuter" + the county ; you should get all the address and phone numbers you need.

good luck

[yoshibond]

I was just reading today some more and noted that IRLJ-2.6(b)(2) states:
(2) The court shall send the defendant written notice of the
time, place, and date of the hearing within 21 days of the
request for a hearing. The notice shall also include statements
advising the defendant of the defendant's rights at the hearing
and stating that failure to appear may be a crime for which the
defendant may be arrested, and, in a traffic infraction case, the
defendant's privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be suspended.


My ticket was dated 24 July 2010. I sent the notice of dispute by regular mail and therefore do not have proof of it being sent; however, the maximum allowable time is 15 days and therefore it is certain that I have sent it in that timeframe (or they would not have accepted my dispute). This brings me to 8 Aug 2010. 21 Days after this is 29 August; however my notice of hearing was sent Sept 10! This seems in violiation of the IRLJ that I quoted above!

Only questions however:

1) Should I simply quote the relevant IRLJ and serve the prosectutor a notice saying what I said above?
2) If i sent a copy to the court clerk do I write on it that it is a copy?
3) How do I show prejudice as outlined below?

(f) Dismissal With Prejudice. An infraction not brought to
hearing within the time period provided by this rule shall, upon
motion, be dismissed with prejudice.


Any clarification would be great!

[RandomWA]

Why not file a request with the court to dismiss the case for violation of the IRLJ section you cited? Just bring it with you (2-3 copies) in person and give it to the clerk. You may first request discovery and/or call the clerk to find when your contested ticket was received by the court.

Yes, you also have to act quickly - you only have 10 days from receipt to dispute any "timing" issues (it says so on the NOH).

[yoshibond]

Why not file a request with the court to dismiss the case for violation of the IRLJ section you cited? Just bring it with you (2-3 copies) in person and give it to the clerk. You may first request discovery and/or call the clerk to find when your contested ticket was received by the court.

Yes, you also have to act quickly - you only have 10 days from receipt to dispute any "timing" issues (it says so on the NOH).

Today I sent - via registered mail with return receipt - a request for dismissal to the procecutor and court clerk as well as a notice of discovery.

As the trial is scheduled for 14 days from today - 2 days after the day I got the Notice of Hearing - I question whether they will accept the discovery despite it being quite unreasonable for me to be expected to hand serve a document within a 2 day period :S

Regardless, I have 10 days to object to the timeline. I received the notice on Sept 15 and it should arrive by Wed Sept 22.

I guess I will hope that I can sucessfully prove "prejudice" or they accept my discovery request and fair to produce the documents in time.

In case anyone is interested, I have provided a copy of the letter I wrote below:

This letter is being sent to formally object to the October 1, 2010 hearing date of Case No. WSP XY0000000 as permitted under IRLJ 2.6(d). IRLJ 2.6(d) states:
(d) Objection to Hearing Date. A defendant who objects to the hearing date set by the court upon the ground that it is not within the time limits prescribed by this rule shall file with the court and serve upon the prosecuting authority a written motion for a speedy hearing date within 10 days after the notice of hearing is mailed or otherwise given to the defendant. Failure of a party, for any reason, to make such a motion shall be a waiver of the objection that a hearing commenced on such a date is not within the time limits prescribed by this rule. The written notice of the hearing date shall contain a copy of IRLJ 2.6(d).
Pursuant to IRLJ 2.6 (2):
The court shall send the defendant written notice of the time, place, and date of the hearing within 21 days of the receipt of the request for a hearing.

The date of the alleged offense was July 24, 2010. To comply with IRLJ 2.4(a) a notice of contest was sent to the court within fifteen (15) days of the alleged infraction date. Acceptance of this notice of contest by the court provides evidence of my compliance with IRLJ 2.4(a). This implies that the notice was received by the court on or before August 8, 2010. Based on the aforementioned requirements of IRLJ 2.6(2), the court should have provided a written notice of the time, place and date of the hearing within 21 days – on or before August 29, 2010; however, the postmark on the Notice of Hearing was dated September 10, 2010 showing that the court was not in compliance with IRLJ 2.6(2).

Pursuant to IRLJ 2.6 (4):
(4) The infraction may be dismissed upon a showing of prejudice if the court does not send a defendant written notice of a hearing within 21 days of receipt of the request for a hearing.

The delay in receiving a Notice of Hearing has caused prejudice as it has provided be inadequate time to prepare a reasonable defence for the alleged offense. In order to adequately defend myself in this allegation, I intended to exercise my right to discovery granted under IRLJ 3.1(b) to review the evidence which the plaintiff plans to present to the court including, but not limited to:
1. A list of the witnesses, if any, the plaintiff intends to call at the hearing.
2. A copy of the citing officer's sworn statement.
3. Calibration and certification log for the SMD used on July 24, 2010 in issuance of citation, if not on file with the court pursuant to IRLJ 6.6(d).
However, IRLJ 3.1(b) requires this request to be served to the prosecutor and filed with the court no less than fourteen (14) days prior to the hearing. As I only received notice of the hearing on September 15, 2010, I was provided only two days in which to exercise my right to discovery. I reside in British Columbia, Canada and therefore it was not logistically possible to meet the fourteen (14) day requirement of IRLJ 3.1(b) as mailing the required request, even on the date of receipt of the hearing notice, would not allow it to be received by the prosecutor before lapse of the fourteen (14) day requirement.

Furthermore, even if the prosecutor honored my request despite violation of the timeframe required under IRLJ 3.1(b), I would be unable to receive the requested documents in a reasonable amount of time for adequate review and defence preparation.

Based on this, I plan to file a motion of dismissal with the court as permitted under IRLJ 2.6(4).