Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 46
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1,622

    Default Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    I attended traffic court today in Kern County with a friend. He received a 22350 ticket on a 4 lane highway with a 35mph speed limit. Basic facts were:

    -lidar used, clocked defendant at 50mph
    -speed survey was conducted in 2001
    -critical speed on the survey was 55mph

    So, court began and the cop gave his side of the story which was brief.
    -Defendant moved for dismissal because the prosecution had not met the statutory requirement of proving a speed trap didn't exist. Judge denied motion.
    -Defendant demanded to see a copy of the speed survey. Cop produced a copy of the survey. Defendant objected as survey was not an original or certified copy as required by People v. Earnest. Judge said, "I don't care about that, move on".
    -Defendant argued the survey was expired as it was conducted in 2001 and the survey must be CONDUCTED within the past 5 years. Judge said, "it's ok... they usually just stamp it when it expires".
    -Defendant argued that the speed limit was not justified and therefore a speed trap existed. Cop read from the "observed pace" line and reported to the court that the critical speed was "40 - 54mph". Defendant argued that was not correct. The judge claimed that the officer had been trained in reading surveys and asked the officer if he believed the survey to be valid. The officer said "yes". The judge said, "that's good enough for me" and didn't even look at the survey.

    The defendant was found guilty.

    This is a case that personifies why I have been so adamant about people zealously defending themselves in court. This was an egregious example of a pinhead cop who doesn't understand the slightest thing about speed surveys and a blind judge who had his mind made up before the trial started. What a horrible miscarriage of justice.

    Defendant will be appealing. I'll keep this forum apprised of status if there is any interest.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    LA LA Land
    Posts
    9,170

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    Quote Quoting EWYLTJ
    View Post
    I'll keep this forum apprised of status
    Please do.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1,622

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    I wonder why Carl hasn't commented on this thread...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1,622

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    I have to say, I am a bit disappointed in the lack of response to this thread. I thought this would stir much thoughtful debate. I wonder where the "you are guilty" crowd is??? I also wonder where the individuals with a bias towards the state are???? This is an issue that should enrage every person who feels that government is here to serve the people... not vice versa.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    10

    Thumbs down Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    Really strange! I thought that if the "critical speed"/85th percentile was 5mph over the posted limit, that the ticket had to be thrown out. This bothers me because I also have a ticket that I will be fighting based on the same rule.

    I was clocked at 49mph. The limit was 35mph. The current speed survey (feb 2004) shows the "critical spped at 41.76mph, which is 5mph over and constitutes a "speed trap".

    Can anyone let me know if this defense will not work?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1,622

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    This defense works well if the judge actually follows the law. However, many traffic judges simply ignore the law. In the above case, the court never even looked at the survey, the judge only asked the cop if he believed it justified the speed limit. When the cop said "yes" the judge said "guilty". If you want anyone to actually look at your case, you will likely have to file an appeal.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Washington comma the Great State of.
    Posts
    1,211

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    Hrm, what do you want there to be said?

    If the judge said he doesn't care about the case law informing how something should be evaluated, there's not a lot to be said. Except, I guess, that's why there are appellate courts.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1,622

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    There's not anything specific I want to be said... but such a cavalier attitude towards a blatant disregard for the law is concerning.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Washington comma the Great State of.
    Posts
    1,211

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    Quote Quoting EWYLTJ
    View Post
    There's not anything specific I want to be said... but such a cavalier attitude towards a blatant disregard for the law is concerning.
    There's an upshot, of course: he's only a traffic court judge, right?

    A bad decision in a traffic court is hardly, as you so dramatically put it, a travesty of justice. Is it bad when it happens? Sure. Does it carry with it lifelong consequences the likes of which can destroy a person's life? Not so much.

    And, as I noted before, if that's what really happened, then whoever the appellate court is will have no problems spotting such a bad decision and promptly remedying it.

    Sorry, I just can't get super worked up about a speeding ticket.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1,622

    Default Re: Travesty of Justice in California Traffic Court

    1st of all... he is not a "traffic court judge"... he is a superior court judge.

    2nd... the travesty is that there are literally thousands of traffic tickets each year that are wrongfully convicted because people such as yourself consider "not a big deal". I have heard that of all the tickets written, about 95% of them go unchallenged. Of the ones that are challenged in court, less than 5% result in dismissal. And terribly few even know that an appeal is available, much less go through the effort of an appeal.

    So, in a system where the law doesn't seem to matter, cops are free to write as many illegal tickets as they like. My friend's ticket was the result of a regular lidar patrol of hwy 178. The city writes dozens of tickets there. Each one of them is illegal due to the speed trap issue. When a defendant finally decides to challenge it, the court turns a blind eye to the law.

    This results in nothing less than an involuntary and illegal tax. Furthermore, it is taxation without representation. Our forefathers had a bit of an issue with this and dumped a bunch of tea into a harbor at one time.

    The scariest thing about it is not that the government is either corrupt, ambivalent or incompetent in its practice... rather it is that the mass of people, such as yourself, will just dismiss it as being irrelevant. This is just a small scale version of what is happening in Washington right now. We are loosing our position as a country of laws that respects the rights of individuals and fast becoming a country of people who serve the government and rely on the government for subsistence.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Discovery: California Traffic Court Discovery
    By donselma in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 10-28-2010, 10:46 PM
  2. Discovery: Traffic Court Discovery Requests in California
    By Zod in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 07-15-2009, 01:33 PM
  3. Traffic Court Opening Statement In California
    By spyder_216 in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 04-21-2008, 12:16 PM
  4. How To File An Extension For California Traffic Court
    By spyder_216 in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 12-21-2007, 01:49 AM
  5. Traffic Court Extensions in California
    By pitbull30 in forum Moving Violations, Parking and Traffic Tickets
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 11-20-2007, 10:04 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources