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Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Ticket

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  • 11-19-2013, 06:59 PM
    tbwill4321
    Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Ticket
    My question involves traffic court in the State of: Idaho

    My spouse is a local news reporter and, after finishing with a 45 minute long live shot, went back to her news car and found a State officer waiting for her. He said that he clocked her doing over 90 mph, but "lost her", and then found her by asking dispatch if there were any news crews in the area ( which they knew since she was interviewing a county officer ). He then proceeded to give her a ticket for an incident he claims to have coincided with her trip out there.

    Since we've just moved from the Texas flatlands to the mountains in Idaho a few months ago, my wife just got comfortable driving the posted speed limit in the new terrain, so a 20+ mph over ticket doesn't make sense. The cop also told her that he had pulled over 3 other reporters in the last month and gave her a speech about speeding to get stories, so he seemed to have a grudge for her profession.

    I think this is definitely something that screams "contest me!". Is there a gaping loophole in this story? What would be the easiest defense of something like this? I tried doing some research, but I couldn't find any comparable cases, stories, or information online.

    Thanks for your help everyone.
  • 11-19-2013, 07:05 PM
    jk
    Re: Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Tick
    ,
    Quote:

    and then found her by asking dispatch if there were any news crews in the area
    so, there was nothing on the vehicle or in the vehicle that clued them into this being a news reporter/crew but somehow made that wild guess and ended up finding a vehicle that matched the one he saw earlier?

    Quote:

    I tried doing some research, but I couldn't find any comparable cases, stories, or information online.
    comparable cases?



    to start with;

    how did he identify the vehicle
    how did he identify your wife as the driver
  • 11-19-2013, 07:06 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Tick
    Your wife knows whether or not she was driving at the location identified on the ticket, at the time the officer describes himself as having observed the vehicle. Was she there at that time, or not? If not, where was she? (If doing the live shoot, that's a pretty good defense.)
  • 11-19-2013, 07:13 PM
    tbwill4321
    Re: Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Tick
    To clarify, she was driving a news station vehicle, with markings of a local news station. He ended up at her vehicle because it was the only one in town ( glazing over the fact that it could have been through traffic )

    She would have been driving at the time that the officer said he saw her vehicle, but it's a long, straight highway with no exits, so it shouldn't have been difficult to pull her over at the time of the alleged incident.
  • 11-19-2013, 07:29 PM
    jk
    Re: Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Tick
    Quote:

    She would have been driving at the time that the officer said he saw her vehicle, but it's a long, straight highway with no exits, so it shouldn't have been difficult to pull her over at the time of the alleged incident.
    so your defense is since he didn't pull her over when he saw her speeding she should not receive a ticket?
  • 11-20-2013, 09:55 AM
    jojo
    Re: Claiming the Officer Observed a Different Vehicle as a Defense to a Speeding Tick
    I seems to me that the only thing the officer can testify to is that "some car" with those markings was speeding. I doubt that he can positively identify your wife as the driver at the time. How many such cars are there in the area? If there is only one, she has a problem. If, however, there is a "fleet" of, say, 10 or more, I think she has a pretty good chance that "reasonable doubt" exists. Now, if the officer questioned your wife and she admitted being on that road at that time, I think it's all over.
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