Speeding Ticket, Possible Speed Trap
My question involves traffic court in the State of: California.
So a month ago I got pulled over in the Orange County area for going 96 in a 65.
Now heres the thing, I think i can go with this as a speed trap.
I was going south on the I-5 and for those of you familiar with the area you know that in San Juan Capristrano as youre going on the the highway its hilly. so it was about 9pm on a thursday night. traffic was okay. i was on the fast lane going about 80-85mph. and i was going up the hill, long inclining hill. and right as i reached the top and started going downhill with my speed of 85mph of course it increased to about 93 which is what i remember hitting and i noticed i was going that fast so i slowed down a bit, but in that same process i saw some car lights of car pulled off to the side of the freeway(right side of the slow lane) and the first thing that crossed through my head "great, hopefully it wasn't a cop" and sure enough, around 3 mins later theres the cop lights flashing behind me.
so i pull over to the nearest exit(as he was telling me to do so over the loudspeaker) this being my first pulled over and watching cops show i was going to be as nice as possible and whatever to help my situation. he asks me for all the info and i give it to him. then he asks me if i knew how fast i was going, and i tell him "hmmm idk, 85-87? but it was just as i was going down that hill" and then him with his rude tone "oh dont give me that crap, and wrong answer! i'll be right back" comes back 5 mins later with a ticket and blah blah blah.
okay so the ticket info is(what he wrote) 22349(a)vc speeding.
lidar #1 LN 96mph at 674
speed approx 96. then he checked the letters "P.F" and wrote 65.
and for the location/violation he wrote the exit where he pulled me over, not where he caught me going "96" which was definitely a good 5 miles after the fact.
then somewhere else on the ticket he checked the radar box but underlined lidar unit and wrote t5000228.
and he gave me a court appearance for march 17 at 8am.
but then a week ago i received a notice in the mail.
in bold red letters it said "Mandatory appearance is required" "you must reserve a court date" "appear on or before 3/17/2011"
then it just gave me a little info on what to do.
and with it came a small little paper notice that read "if you would like to appear in front of a judicial officer, you must reserve a date. this reservation will be for you to enter a plea to the chargers against you, the officer WILL NOT be present. if you intent to contest our citation, please refer to (website).
ok now i was going through the forums and found similar cases, but what happened with them was that they went to their court appearance but all the dealt with was the clerk and had no option to see a judge and had to pay their fine.
now how should i handle this?
i definitely dont want to pay it so i'm willing to fight if i have a chance, plus it looks like i wont chance to do traffic school.
what can or should i do??
i have not made an appointment yet.
i kind of have my hopes up that i can do something about it with the speed trap.
Re: What Should I. Do Speeding Ticket. Maybe Speed Trap
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eddym2130
i kind of have my hopes up that i can do something about it with the speed trap.
Sorry to disappoint you but your definition of a "speed trap" is not even remotely close to the legal definition (see VC 40802). Even if it were, speed trap arguments do not apply for speeding citations in Maximum speed limit zones (example "65mph limit on a freeway").
Also, with you exceeding the 65 mph limit by 31 mph, not only do you have a "mandatory court appearance", but it might also mean that the traffic school option is not one that is automatic, you would have to request it from the judge and it is up to his/her discretion to allow it.
Other than you appearing in court, pleading "not guilty" and requesting a Trial By Declaration (in hopes the officer does not file his declaration)... OR... requesting an "in court trial" (in hopes the officer doesn't appear)... Your chances of getting a dismissal are pretty close to ZILCH especially with you admitting to driving at 85-87 (in excess of the 65mph maximum limit).
In my opinion, you would be much better off by begging the court for traffic school and if the judge approves it, plead guilty, pay the fine and get the dismissal that way.
What you do in the end is your choice though!
Re: Possible Speed Trap if Not, What Can I Do
Re: Speeding Ticket, Possible Speed Trap
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eddym2130
"hmmm idk, 85-87? but it was just as i was going down that hill"
Your car has functioning brakes correct? Even then, it does not matter.
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eddym2130
and for the location/violation he wrote the exit where he pulled me over, not where he caught me going "96" which was definitely a good 5 miles after the fact.
His testimony will include where he obtained the 96 MPH reading. Then he got in his car and took 5 miles to catch up to you. Moot point.
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eddym2130
i have not made an appointment yet.
Make one. Its mandatory.
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eddym2130
i kind of have my hopes up that i can do something about it with the speed trap.
No, its not.