ExpertLaw.com Forums

Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction

Printable View

  • 09-11-2015, 11:40 AM
    LA20
    Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: California.

    Thanks in advance for your advice. I received a Caltrain Fare Evasion fine for $398, wrote a letter to the Court to explain that I am a monthly pass rider and the tag station was not working. I got a reduced fine to $120 and felt that it should have been dismissed. Should I go to court or it's not worth the time and just pay the reduced fine? Here's the story.

    I received this violation on 6/1 around 8:00am on my way to work from Millbrae to Palo Alto station. I have tapped my card before getting on Caltrain and I got ticketed during my ride. This was the first of the month (June) and per my understanding the monthly pass won’t load until after I tapped my card again at Palo Alto station. The violation should be voided for the following reasons:

    • I have proof that I have monthly pass since March (see attached page)
    • I have only tapped my card once and the monthly pass won’t load until the 2nd tap.
    • I have pre-paid for my monthly pass on the 15th of every month, which means I have paid for the ride 15 days before I boarded Caltrain on 6/1.
    • The system (tap on and off) in this case has set me up for failure.

    On my way back home, I tapped on at Palo Alto station and tapped off at Millbrae and the monthly pass still didn’t get loaded. I had to make a phone call to Clipper Card to finally mitigate this issue.
  • 09-12-2015, 12:05 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction
    If you paid for a monthly pass, then there would be a record of your payment from prior to the ride in which you were ticketed. If you tagged on, then there would be a record of your having tagged on before boarding the train. With both of those records, it would seem that you would have a very strong defense to the ticket.
  • 09-12-2015, 12:20 PM
    flyingron
    Re: Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction
    The clipper monthly pass system is such a mess.
  • 09-13-2015, 07:49 PM
    LA20
    Re: Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction
    Thanks for your reply. I do have the record of payment which I have sent to the judge. I don't have the tag on record, I will try to get it this week. However, that particular day I tagged on/off for at least 6 times because my pass was not able to be loaded. Even after I called Clipper, they said they couldn't load it either.
  • 09-14-2015, 06:52 AM
    flyingron
    Re: Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction
    I hate to ask the obvious, but do you keep $1.85 in cash loaded on your card?
  • 09-15-2015, 10:37 AM
    LA20
    Re: Should You Go to Court on a CalTrail Fare Evasion Ticket After a Fine Reduction
    Quote:

    Quoting flyingron
    View Post
    I hate to ask the obvious, but do you keep $1.85 in cash loaded on your card?

    Yes. I take bart from time to time so my card has more than $10 at all time.

    Is there any other prove I should bring to court besides the tap on/off records from Clipper? I don't understand why the judge didn't throw out this case after proving my monthly pass.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Update: Received the record from Clipper and it does NOT show my tag in the morning and only showed starting 4:58pm. I honestly know the system broke that morning for some reason. Should I pay the reduced fine or should I go to court? Thanks in advance!
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:48 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4
Copyright © 2023 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 - 2018 ExpertLaw.com, All Rights Reserved