Filing for Discovery on a Speeding Ticket

My question involves traffic court in the State of: Washington
I was returning from a diesel mechanic shop in Fife, back to my work in downtown Puyallup when I accelerated from a traffic light in a 25 mph zone. I rarely travel in Fife and I am very unfamiliar with the roads and speed limits. I did not look at my speedometer, so I honestly did not know my exact speed. As soon as I reached the max speed I traveled, I applied the brakes and I approached a small Toyota truck. The police officer was sitting on the right side of the road, with the front of his car facing towards me. He claimed I was traveling 48 mph and I received a $247 ticket. I checked the contest ticket box and walked it into the Fife Municipal Court on 12-11-12 with my complete request for discovery. I had the clerk time/date stamp my request. She gave me paper work with directions on sending discovery request to the prosecuting attorney, which I followed exactly as it said. I sent the request less than one week after turning in my ticket, and today 1-4-13, I still have no request papers. I am going to call the prosecuting attorney tomorrow morning to check basis with them, but what advice would anyone give me for my court date on January 15th? I have one other ticket for talking on my cell phone while driving, but no other speeding tickets.

Thank you.

DO NOT CALL! If they FAIL to provide discovery (assuming you served it properly) then you can get the evidence thrown out. Why would you INTENTIONALLY remind them?

Anyone else have any advice? I feel like if they haven't sent me back mail I would be responsible for having not checked with them..

As speedy said DO NOT CONTACT THEM you served discovery (you do have proof as in a stamped copy right?) it is their job to respond now.

IRLJ 3.1 b says:

Quote:

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(b) Discovery. Upon written demand of the defendant at least 14 days before
a contested hearing, filed with the court and served on the office of the
prosecuting authority assigned to the court in which the infraction is filed,
the prosecuting attorney shall at least 7 days before the hearing provide the
defendant or the defendant's lawyer with (1) a copy of the citing officer's
sworn statement (2) a copy of video or photographic evidence the prosecutor
proposes to introduce at trial, unless in reply to the discovery request the
prosecutor provides the address to a website where such evidence is accessible
to the defendant; and (3) the names of any witnesses not identified in the
citing officer's sworn statement. No other discovery shall be required. If
the prosecuting authority provides any portion of the discovery less than 7
days before the hearing, such untimely discovery shall be suppressed only upon
a showing of prejudice in the presentation of the defendant's case. If the
prosecuting authority, without reasonable excuse or justification, fails to
provide any portion of the discovery prior to the day of the hearing, the
portion of discovery not provided shall be suppressed. Neither party is
precluded from investigating the case, and neither party shall impede another
party's investigation. A request for discovery pursuant to this section shall
be filed on a separate pleading.

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If you remind them you could end up harming yourself.

Quote:

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Quoting LedZeppelin

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Anyone else have any advice? I feel like if they haven't sent me back mail I would be responsible for having not checked with them..

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I did not see this response until today. You have NO responsibility whatsoever to do the prosecutor's job for them. If you served them a copy and filed a copy with the court, that is all you are required to do. If THEY fail to respond to your request that is their problem, not yours. No court could or would ever penalize a defendant because they didn't bug the prosecutor to respond to their discovery request.

I received my discovery papers today Thursday, January 10th. My court date is January 15th. Is this delay of the discovery papers enough to get it thrown out? Here are a copy of the papers I received.

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...ps55302d38.jpg

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...ps89e900e5.jpg

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0d57c7ac.jpg

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...ps16ef69d2.jpg

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Thank you for all the advice as well! It is greatly appreciated!

You likely have a homerun here. The officer FAILED to give the serial number ofvthe RADAR he used. There is NO WAY to confirm if it has a valid or current certification. Hopefully I didn't just miss it. Surfing on my phone. :-D

Oh, and ignore their request to supply ANYTHING to them. You do NOT have to give away your defense strategy. Do not talk to the prosecutor. At all.

The officer did include the radar unit serial number. I cut it off on accident to exclude the officers information.

Cop says he is a certified radar operator. Never states that he is certified to test. Also, never states he operated the smd per manufacturer's recommendation. Never says he was trained on the specific radar device. Never states his actual speed estimate...just says "over" so, it could be 25.0001 MPH. Never states unit was properly working during the measurement .. says at different times.

I was afraid of that. Ok, next steps...

1. Find out if that RADAR has a valid cert on file with the court. Two years or less is the defacto standard for certifications
2. Find out what model RADAR it is.
3. Find out what date the notice of infraction was filed with the court.

Also, can you fix it to show the entire statement? Only blank out your name and the last 4 digits of the case ID. There could be a problem with the officer's subscription (signing) of the document.