Two speeding tickets from one traffic stop

[ejmack]

Yesterday Morning on the way to work, I recieved 2 speeding tickets. They were from the same officer, but were in two different counties. 1 was for 87 in a 65 which i would be happy to pay because i indeed was at fault (Even though his radar said 86... not a big deal). The other was a 65 in a 35... I dont believe there was a 35 MPH zone on the road i was on, and the radar in his car never had a 65mph indiciation.

Is there anything i can/should do about this... or just bite the bullet and go to both court date in different counties.

[seniorjudge]

I have been accused here of thinking everyone is guilty and gets what they deserve.


But, no.


This is a bit over the top.


Do a little research. Find out about the prosecutors in each county. Pick one and go to court. Tell that prosecutor what happened. Ask him if you plead guilty, will he recommend to the other prosecutor to drop the other one.


Or pick a county. Then ask for a change of venue to the county you pick. That way, you will have to deal with only one prosecutor.

[jturner901]

The officer will testify that he saw the speed of 87 on the device, but did not have a chance to lock it in until you had slowed 1 MPH, thus showing 86. Regarding the other, I'll leave that one to somebody else.

All the best!

Jay

[ejmack]

ok, thank you so far. Im not really worried about the 87 in a 65... i was doing around that speed and will pay for that one... its the other one im worried about that is in another county.

[lwpat]

It is somewhat unusual for an officer to write tickets in two counties. It is possible he will not show for one or the other. It should be two different courts.

[ejmack]

yes it is, one in Edwardsville, Il and the other in Carlinville, Il about 40 miles apart.

[Litigator]

I don't know what will happen as a practical matter but legally I do not see any defense--I've seen a number of cases where someone gets a speeding ticket, gets back on the road, and then speeds and gets written up again.

[ejmack]

I got the tickets from the same officer, on the same traffic stop.

[Litigator]

I understand that it was the same officer who wrote the tickets but you mentioned two counties--were these not 2 seperate incidents of speeding? If an officer clocked you for speeding, reset the detection device and then clocked you again for speeding from the same vantage point, this raises an issue of whether you are dealing with 1 or 2 charges of speeding--in that instance it may deemed to be a continuous course of conduct, in effect 1 offense, in which legally only 1 charge for speeding could lie. But it sounds to me like the incidents were seperated in time and space--the facts are going to be important.

[ejmack]

He clocked me on the interstate going the opposite direction, by the time he stopped me i was off the interstate on a frontage road. I don't recall there being a 35 mph zone. and 65 in a 35 is a little much (definately wasn't going that fast) and really seems to be too round of a number... when i looked at the radar gun it was still set on 86mph.