Speeding Ticket in Spokane, Washington

[deweyusa]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington

Hi again

Many of you helped me come up with some very good possible defenses in a speeding ticket case in a prior thread. I have since asked for a continuance (my witness could not come to court on the originally scheduled date).

Spokane County Washington uses their form 1503, entitled "Motion Order Issue of Law" for what appears 2 purposes: filing of motions and demanding an expert witness. I talked to a recent law school school graduate, and if he is not mistaken, I must use this form in advance of my hearing to make any motions to dismiss the evidence against me, in this case the officer's affidavit.

It was noticed in the affidavit that the officer checked "Moving Mode" for the radar that was used in a stationary position.

I have a couple follow-on questions:

1) There is other potentially damaging material in the affidavit, such as a verbal statement by me that could be construed as me admitting guilt (NOT what I was trying to do, but in retrospect, it could be seen that way). If a judge agrees that the moving/stationary issue is a valid argument, does that mean the entire affidavit is then thrown out, or just a part of it? (i.e., will I still have to defend my oral statement?)

2) If #1 above is true - the moving/stationary argument is agreed a flaw by a judge - but the oral statement is still on the record, do I need to file a separate motion form for each issue I'm trying to get the case dismissed for? (There are other inconsistencies I would like to argue if necessary to defend myself).

3) The recent law graduate I mentioned recommended I file a brief to the court, expressing these arguments in a standardized format. Is this possible in a speeding case? Can anyone please give an example of a good brief that I could use? In the above form 1503, they require me to cite "Authorities". I assume I would still need to cite these in my brief, which I understand are basically case laws or active laws that show my argument is valid..that they weren't followed...correct?


Thank you very much for all the help. I am actually looking forward to this in a way, thanks to all the help members here have given. It has allowed me feel like I have a leg to stand on.

[deweyusa]

Okay...an update. After speaking with a very helpful court clerk, some answers were found:

Form 1503 is indeed used to file motions for the suppression of evidence in Spokane County. These are heard before the actual hearing date at a separate hearing, it sounds like by a commissioner. The clerk did think that perhaps motions could even be heard on the hearing date by the judge in the case, but couldn't say 100% if this was the case (this would be handy for me, since I'm coming from across the state).

It sounds like if there are multiple issues being argued for dismissal and they are semi-related, (i.e. anything to do with the affidavit), the filing of only one of these forms is necessary. The District Court even says they will serve it on the prosecutor for me, which is legally required. I'm apprehensive about trusting that, but they did say they would do it.

It sounds also as if there is no legal brief required for the filing of this form. It is simply to request the pre-contested-hearing "motion hearing". According to the clerk, I don't have to indicate why I'm making the motion on this form. This advice would seem to contradict the form, however, as there is a section on the form titled "Authorities", where I am to "cite which authorities form the primary basis for my legal position". Sounds like a justification for the filing of the form is needed to me.

Spokane County is strange. Can anyone verify how to properly use this form, especially the "authorities" section?

Thanks again