Washington State Ticket Discovery Responses

[kyle99]

Oh ok, how do I see what's on file with the court? It looks like some part of the discovery they sent me was cut off, the signature might be below. If it is, can I get it suppressed because it wasn't in the discovery? Also, was I supposed to file a motion to dismiss BEFORE the trial?

[BrendanjKeegan]

Combined with the non signature (you should seriously go see what the COURT has on file) and the lack of checkboxes, the "admission" isn't really relevant at this point.

Actually, No. The admission is TOTALLY relevant. The officer's statement could have just said "The defendant stated he was travelling at 35 mph. When asked what the speed limit was, he responded '25.'" If he signed that under penalty of perjury, the prosecution has met their burden and the game is over.

You can motion all you want to exclude the evidence obtained by the radar device, and you may even be successful at it. However, you would be hard pressed to have the sentence where the defendant admitted to the infraction suppressed or excluded from the statement. Again, all they need is the statement that the defendant KNOWINGLY was over the speed limit.

The defendant's only bet here is to go with a "no signature provided with discovery and therefore it does not constitute a swon statement" and have the ENTIRE statement suppressed on this basis alone. Suppressing radar readings alone will not get you anywhere.

The motion to suppress and dismiss should be made at your hearing. When your case is called, just inform the judge that you have a pre-trial motion. You are not required to file anything beforehand.

[Speedy Gonzalez]

And we have NEVER seen an officer embellish, have we.

[kyle99]

So, my plan should be this then, correct?
1) File a pre-trail motion to surpress everything contained in the officer's statement, as it is not signed, and then move to dismiss.
And if this doesn't work, then:
2) Surpress all evidence obtained by the radar device, as the officer did not indicate which SMD he was operating, and hope that my estimate on speed doesn't count as a prepondurance of evidence against me, and move to dismiss.

What do you think my odds with either of these two defenses are? If the signiture IS in the report, it just was cut off in the copy provided to me by discovery, can I surpress the signiture portion, and therefore the whole statement, as it wasn't in the discovery report provided to me? Also, since I'm a juvenile (16), do I have to have a parent/guardian present at the hearing? Any last advice for my hearing for Tuesday (procedural, etc)? Thanks a ton for the help guys, you have all been very helpful!

[BrendanjKeegan]

Post #6 has the answer to your question about the signature. But again: If it wasn't provided to you in discovery, it should be suppressed.

1- I think you have a good chance. 2- 20% chance. You admitted to the infraction. If you're unable to get the officer's ENTIRE statement kicked due to inadmissibility as it does not constitute a sworn statement under the law, your case is done for.

Parents- not needed.

If you make the motion as in #6, you should be good. No need to file. Just show up, say "Your honor, I have a pre-trial motion." And then when the judge says go ahead, then read it into the record. Bring your discovery to prove to the court that the signature was not provided. It may even help to print out a copy of RCW 9A.72.085.

[kyle99]

Ok, thank you very much, I think I'm ready for court tomorrow. Last question: does the affadavit need to be signed if it is "incorporated into reference" of the signed citation?

[Speedy Gonzalez]

Ok, thank you very much, I think I'm ready for court tomorrow. Last question: does the affadavit need to be signed if it is "incorporated into reference" of the signed citation?

Yes it does. Otherwise it is inadmissible. And "signed" can be electronic or manual signature.

[kyle99]

So, at my hearing today, my case was called and I told the judge I had a pre-trial motion to supress evidence and dismiss. He told me that motions had to filled with a prosecuting attorney and something about a motions docket, and gave me a pink judgement sheet, which was empty other then "Cont Motion DK + Send", and was given a continuance. So I'm assuming I have to write out my motions and submit to the prosecuting attorney and I'll get a seperate trial for the motions, correct? Do I have to use this form?:
http://www.spokanecounty.org/data/di...20of%20law.pdf
This might be better suited for Traffic Court, but I'll leave it in here for now.

[Speedy Gonzalez]

WTF is with judges ROYALLY SCREWING people over lately? Wow... just wow.

[BrendanjKeegan]

Exactly. I don't know how to approach this. I think this is unacceptable. I understand this is an adversarial process, but seriously?