Two Speeding Tickets at Once: Double Jeopardy?

[DerekD]

My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: Florida.

A month ago I was driving westbound on I-75 (Alligator Alley). 2AM, Saturday morning. Stone cold sober, caffeinated, and enjoying a leisurely drive on the open, straightaway roads with no intersections to speak of.

Enough sweet talk, I was speeding, and speeding hard. I figured stupidly it was a good time to determine the top speed of my vehicle, and I got stopped by a state trooper 10 miles from Naples.

To my surprise, the troopers issue me a ticket for 98 in a 75 and informed me that a trooper a few miles back clocked a vehicle matching my car's description. This officer supposedly originally clocked me speeding 10 minutes prior and "couldn't catch up."

This trooper arrives, and I find myself holding 2 speeding tickets.

My question is: What happened here?

If two officers see me speeding at the same time, can they both give me individual tickets?

If one officer clocked me speeding, and informed another officer to clock/stop me, can both issue me tickets?

Where does it end? Can't they just string 10 troopers together and plaster drivers with 10 tickets per speeding violation?

I opted for traffic school on the first ticket, and am scheduled for court on Friday for the second. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[seniorjudge]

There is no double jeopardy because it was two different offenses.

[DerekD]

Thank you for the speedy reply!

Ok, I understand that they are two separate offenses. Time difference between the tickets is irrelevant, as two individual troopers clocked me individually, issuing tickets individually.

What defines the limits of one single "offense"?

Not the entire trip : Point A to Point B at unlawful speed - I would have only 1 ticket.

Not a specific length of time : As both tickets were issued within 15 minutes of the other (it could easily have been an hour or 40 seconds.)

From my layman's perspective all that's left is "being observed performing the unlawful act."

My confusion: Trooper 1 informed Trooper 2 that I was on my way. There is nothing wrong with being set up like that? What if the trooper had called 4 buddies instead of just one? 5 tickets legally issued?

No hope on Res Judicata, or an included lesser offense?

[Litigator]

If an offense is defined as a continuing offense then there should only be one charge. I doubt speeding is defined that way under Florida law. I suppose that as a practical matter if the speeding offenses occurred very close together, they could be counted as only one offense or one incident and you may get the prosecutor and/or court to accept that argument--as a practical argument, not as a legal one based on double jeopardy or any other ground.

At least as defense counsel that is what I would try to negotiate on your behalf--I do think it is different than a situation where you are cited, go a short distance, and then are cited again. In that scenario you are probably going to be stuck with both tickets.

[BOR]

This trooper arrives, and I find myself holding 2 speeding tickets.

My question is: What happened here?

If two officers see me speeding at the same time, can they both give me individual tickets?

If one officer clocked me speeding, and informed another officer to clock/stop me, can both issue me tickets?

If both are aware you are speeding and one is stopping you and issuing a citation, one should be precluded from issuing another, yes. If it happens, then it is remedial in a court of law.

Where does it end? Can't they just string 10 troopers together and plaster drivers with 10 tickets per speeding violation?

This is a valid point and has much merit.

I opted for traffic school on the first ticket, and am scheduled for court on Friday for the second. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

You suggest a DJ violation and I even say a Due Process concern. Let's look at the relevant laws:

5th AM:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Florida constitution:

Article 1:

SECTION 9. Due process.--No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal matter to be a witness against oneself.

My strong opinion, it is the "same offense", and a "continuing" violation, as Litigator suggests.


If you entered 2 different sovereigns, I could "possibly" see seperate charges, from both municipalities, even though it is still continuing??

Although subdivisions of a state are the "same sovereign" for double jeopardy purposes, this would mean a state code charge and a municipal code charge resulting from the same act, commenced within the same venue?

If it was the same municipality, it may still ring true.

Since you were not stopped, went on your way, sped again, and stopped, IMO, you are correct, however, that is a legal Q for the court.

I could not find any codification in the FL statutes on it, but from online research, a defendant in a FL criminal court can enter 3 pleas:

Guilty
Not Guilty
No contest.

Since you have already entered a guilty plea on the 1st citation, when you are called upon to enter a plea, I personally would enter a NOT guilty plea and tell the court right then and there it is based on once in jeopardy for the "same offense" under both Constitutions.

DJ law is not as facially easy as it sounds.


Go to a library where they have the Florida statutes, along with them they will have the Constitution volumes. Look up the cited section, Article 1, section 9 and read up on DJ case law.

See how "same offense" is defined by case law?

If you can, type up a brief of some relevant cases, and an opening and closing statement, and present it to the court then and there.

Keep us posted.

BOR *Bill of Rights*

[EWYLTJ]

Personally, I think it was just two jerk cops trying to abuse their authority at the expense of the public they are sworn to protect.

[BOR]

Personally, I think it was just two jerk cops trying to abuse their authority at the expense of the public they are sworn to protect.

I agree. As the OP states, if such were permitted, they could just line 10 police cars up in a row, witness the speeding, and hand out 10 tickets. That is not a hornbook definition of "operation of law".

14 AM:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.


FL Article 1 sec. 9 is also the parallel provision.


Due Process does not permit what the poster has described. Even if the DJ argument was defective, DP is more of a "broader" scope of non governmental interference.