Legal Advice For a California Speeding Ticket

[CADRIVER74]

I was recently ticketed for doing over 30 mph the speed limit on a California highway in the SF Bay Area by a motorcycle CHP, but I was absolutely not going that fast plus, there was too much traffic to do that speed without weaving radically. There was another vehicle the same color as mine speeding but is hard for me to say if they were going that fast and there was no mention of that by me or the officer. The officer did not cite me for weaving just the speed. I asked the officer how he got me doing such an exact speed (not rounded like 20 or 25) and he stated something along the lines of "because I got you at that speed". I was waiting to hear radar, laser, or pacing which he did not say at all. I am going to fight this in court but, does anyone have any advice for my defense? Thanks.

[lwpat]

Beating a ticket in CA is very difficult. If you show for court the judge may allow you to take traffic school, especially if you have a clean record. You may want to stop by the court and ask the clerk about your particular judge. You can also do a TBD but this usually is a waste of time and will normally take traffic school off the table. Your best bet is if the officer doesn't show but the motorcycle officers are always there.

You can do a discovery request to find out how you were clocked and any other information the officer recorded. If you intend to fight this by yourself (not a good option) then get the book by David Brown "Beat Your CA Ticket". You can order it online or find it at the library. It has all of the forms and info on how to serve the request.

[Blackwater]

Hey CAdriver74 it depends on what you were charged with. Do you have the specific California Vehicle Code (CVC) that you were charged with? LIke if you violated CVC 22349(a) which is the Maximum Speed limit law or another violation.

There are many ways to challenge the CHP and a Trial By Declaration would be best since the police are not offered Overtime pay for spending the time to write an argument for you. Now if they went to court then they get OT pay. Understand?

Check your ticket and see what you were charged with and we will go from there.

BLACKWATER

[CADRIVER74]

Yes, it was CVC code 22349 and that is the only thing I was cited for. I tried calling the CHP office today to request the officers paperwork and the clerk told me I had to wait for the ticket in the mail even after I tried to explain to her that I was trying to find out what the officer wrote as to how he got me at the exact speed of 97 mph. I believe I have one ticket on my record for speeding about 1-2 years ago, so traffic school is out of the question. I have many questions I would like to ask the officer since his story does not add up. I have also gone to the library to get some more info the help my case. I really would not be making such a stink about the whole thing if it was only a 80 mph ticket but, 97 mph on Christmas day with all the other traffic on the highway would have been suicide and I think he knows it!

[Blackwater]

Since it was a motorcycle it was most likely Radar built into the bikes dashboard unless the cop was standing on the side of the road with a radar gun which I doubt. Dont call the CHP office anymore it might let the officer know what tactic you are using against him in court.

Check your private mail box.

[2JIMinCA]

What was the posted speed limit on the road? I assume it was more than a 2 lane road... right?

California is actually the easiest state to beat a ticket I have ever seen. TBWD does NOT take traffic school off the table... neither does a trial.

First thing you should do is request discovery from the DA. Do NOT ask for anything else from the CHP. Go to http://helpigotaticket.com/proc/discover.html for all the info you need to prepare a discovery request and a proof of service. If the DA provides you the discovery, you may find some good information. If he ignores you (which he probably will), you can use that as justification to request dismissal.

[Blackwater]

Fight it by doing a Trial By Declaration. If you lose that case dont worry..you can take him to court again with a new trial and the declaration case is completely ignored. So you have two chances. This is what I told my friend to do as he got pulled over by CHP in San Leandro and he was so scared in the moment that he forgot to ask what method was used to stop him. So he wrote in using the defense that when he saw the CHP lights on him he had to speed up to pass a car and pull over. It was probably then that he was "caught speeding". Sometimes that works. This time it didnt and he found out in a letter without a response. So I told him to write the court and a copy was sent out from officer. Pacing. So now in the trial de novo we will use a defense based on pacing. The officer even knowlingly admitted to using a odometer that was calibrated a month earlier July 07 and my friend was pulled over Aug 07. It was +1 mph faster for all speeds. Which is somewhat weird. As we all know the gears are not the same sizes for all speeds inside the odometer so there is no way the odometer was +1 Mph for all speeds. Course if you go to court you WILL NEED TO ask the officer to show you that the car's calibration dates for the previous 6 months and the repair data for the exact vehicle number of the patrol car as well to show that it has no history of transmission problems. (Ford Crown Victorias have alot of mechanical problems) plus the car must not have had its tires changed and documents need to be shown as different tire sizes changes the speed of the odometer. If none of these are produced in court then ask the judge for dismissal for lack of data from the officer. If some are produced and some arent shown...still request for dismissal. If you were going a certain speed and the officer was coming up to chase you and is using a pacing argument...well you can say that the officer's judgement of speed visually has some error because if you were going a constant speed of 65mph and the officer guns his car to chase you and his odo shows 85 or 90mph that is not the drivers speed...as it is the police officers speed. If the cop didnt have lights and sirens on while he was pulling up high speed behind you...bring that up in court as CVC says it is illegal to pursue someone high speed. You can break a law to catch a law breaker unless you had your sirens and lights on to announce you are breaking it. I forgot the exact Vehicle code number , but go to the DMVs webpage and they have it all listed there under police.

For Radar guns defense...ask for calibration data for the previous 6 months or longer. Ask for the NHTSA certification of the radar gun itself. I believe its an FCC law to operate these things in public. Ask the officer to produce his Radar certification certificate to prove he is trained to operate the radar gun. That is alot of stuff he/she needs to bring. Sometimes they bring it sometimes they dont...but they never bring all the documents as its a hassle plus CHP is used to people acting like sheep. Showing up unprepared in court and they (cops) always win cause the judges side with them. Radar guns could also pick up fast moving targets especially the opposite side of the freeway traffic is very close and no obstructions. If the cop was on the side of the freeway and there was a large open area...then the radar gun could have picked up anyone....hell even a bird flying by if there was birds flying by...could have been picked up since Radars don't know the difference between a bird or a car. Or if there were trees in the officers way. You can use obstruction argument. Hope you see the patterns of how thing can be argued in favor of you.

[cdwjava]

If the cop didnt have lights and sirens on while he was pulling up high speed behind you...bring that up in court as CVC says it is illegal to pursue someone high speed.

Uh ... no, it does not say anything of the sort!

Please cite the CVC section that says this.

You can break a law to catch a law breaker unless you had your sirens and lights on to announce you are breaking it.

Also not true.

As a note, lights and sirens absolve law enforcement of some of the liability associated with unsafe or high speed driving, but not all of it. Additionally, officers are trained not to use their sirens at high speed on the freeway because the sound is usually not heard until the officer is right on top of another vehicle and this often causes drivers to make sudden and often unpredictable turns as they are surprised. The air horn catches one's attention from a little further back and is more commonly used when approaching other cars than the siren.

For Radar guns defense...ask for calibration data for the previous 6 months or longer.

The Stalker is calibrated once per year, as I recall ... and the CHP uses Stalker Duals. They need only be maintained to manufacturer specs.


- Carl

[Cal-resident]

Hi, Carl,

What do you think about the defence with requesting the speedo calibration?

Thanks

[cdwjava]

Hi, Carl,

What do you think about the defence with requesting the speedo calibration?

Thanks

I think they have a right to seek that information through discovery.

- Carl