Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
Even if your GF wasn't speeding, and even if it was therefore illegal for the cop to stop her, that doesn't excuse her from being held legally accountable for doing a break check that caused an accident.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
I understand that the reason for the stop does not necessarily have to be what gets charged but doesn't there have to be a reason for the stop. None of those things where occurring before the officer started into the stop. Doesn't he have to have reasonable suspicion before he starts in to a stop?
Not excusing the actions that occurred but don't you think it is illegal for a cop to start detentions with no cause and could lead to some negative reactions by the community.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
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Quoting
marshap
I understand that the reason for the stop does not necessarily have to be what gets charged but doesn't there have to be a reason for the stop.
The reason for the stop appears to be the officer believed/knew the driver was speeding. It will be up to the driver's attorney to try and disprove that.
I'm trying to figure out exactly what happened but getting it third hand from someone with poor writing skills is difficult.
Why did the person hit the gas and then slam on the brakes hard enough that the officer was not directly behind them but STILL hit them?
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
You keep going around on this but you admitted at the beginning that she was speeding. Further, cops are allowed to follow people and her erratic braking is also plenty of cause for the stop.
You can create all the threads here and say the same thing over and over again, but YOU don't know what happened and your wife is probably not fully aware either. That is one of the reasons she needs a lawyer. The lawyer can investigate if there was indeed a legitimate cause for the stop based on the evidence. I wouldn't get my hopes up as everybody has been telling you, it doesn't take much and appears to have indeed be present by your admission.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
One more time:
Even if your GF wasn't speeding, and even if it was therefore illegal for the cop to stop her, that doesn't excuse her from being held legally accountable for doing a break check that caused an accident.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
I did not admit they were speeding to begin with. They where proveably by the evidence following the law when the officer decided to make a detention. I can prove they are not speeding when the officer calls in the speeding on the evidence. The officers reasonable suspicion In the evidence is that they were speeding I can disprove that.
Eerelations your comments make the most sense. What if someone is chasing after you illegally and you drive crazy to get away I guess would you still be held liable? Would the other person hold no responsibility for causing you to act erratically?
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
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Quoting
marshap
Eerelations your comments make the most sense. What if someone is chasing after you illegally and you drive crazy to get away I guess would you still be held liable? Would the other person hold no responsibility for causing you to act erratically?
A cop doesn't even need a reason to follow someone. They can follow them around waiting for the to do something reaonably suspicious. Proving (if you could do that) she wasn't speeding would be immaterial. You need to prove that there was no reason for the officer to suspect she had sped. You can quibble but she says in her panic she sped up and braked. I can almost bet she did speed and that is why the cop gave that reason.
Again, you can cast about all day long but you're not going to get anythign that's furhter useful as we don't have the abiltity to see the actual evidence (the police's actual statements, dash cams, etc....) that could be used to:
1. Invalidate the stop.
2. Challenge the elements of the rather serious charges she is facing.
You've gone way beyond what you can get out of a message board GET YOUR WIFE A LAWYER.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
If a cop was following me for no reason I could think of, the last thing I would do is give him a reason by driving erratically. Most intelligent and rational people, upon seeing a cop car behind them, would immediately start driving as safely and sanely as they possibly could.
What is your GF's problem with the cops that the mere sight of them causes her to feel the need to "get away" and "drive crazy"?
Finally, and for the last time, even if the cop had no legal reason to follow your GF's car, she can (and should) be held legally responsible for doing a brake check and causing an accident.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
If you can prove with the dash cam that the person did not speed when the officer started making the detention and turned their lights on other words they started pulling them over for no reason and no suspicion and what they said the speed was a lie on the tape. Would that make a difference in the case? Yes the person went on to drive crazy and do some illegal stuff but they felt threatened because they were being pulled over for no legal reason. Does that not matter at all?
Yes officers follow people around hoping they will commit crimes so they can catch them but legally officers don't turn their lights on until they actually have a reasonable suspicion.
Re: Assault With a Vehicle Charge After Brake-Checking a Police Officer
You are making us guess at a lot, but would it be reasonable to infer that after your wife ignored the officer's attempt to pull her over, then caused the accident with the officer's vehicle, the officer stated that his reason for attempting to effect a traffic stop was that your wife was speeding?
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Quoting
marshap
I understand that the reason for the stop does not necessarily have to be what gets charged but doesn't there have to be a reason for the stop.
From what you have told us, the officer was attempting to pull your wife over in order to issue a speeding ticket. That's a reason for the attempted stop.
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Quoting marshap
None of those things where occurring before the officer started into the stop.
When an officer's vehicle lights up behind you and uses its siren or another audible signal, and you believe the officer is trying to pull you over, you pull over. If you believe that the officer is trying to pass you for other official business, you get out of the officer's way. There are no circumstances under which it is acceptable to accelerate, then slam on your breaks and cause an accident -- even if the vehicle behind you is not a police vehicle.
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Quoting Texas Vehicle Code, Sec. 545.156. Vehicle Approached by Authorized Emergency Vehicle.
(a) On the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle using audible and visual signals that meet the requirements of Sections 547.305 and 547.702, or of a police vehicle lawfully using only an audible signal, an operator, unless otherwise directed by a police officer, shall: ''
(1) yield the right-of-way;
(2) immediately drive to a position parallel to and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection; and
(3) stop and remain standing until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed.
(b) This section does not exempt the operator of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway.
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Quoting
marshap
I can prove they are not speeding when the officer calls in the speeding on the evidence.
Even if we imagine that there is some form of definitive proof that your wife didn't violate any speeding laws, you can't actually do a thing. If your wife and her lawyer believe that they are able to prove that she wasn't speeding, the question still remains of whether the officer was reasonable in his belief that she had been speeding. More than that, as you have been repeatedly told, even if she wasn't speeding her driving conduct was unacceptable and can result in charges.
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Quoting marshap
What if someone is chasing after you illegally and you drive crazy to get away I guess would you still be held liable?
Of course you would. Even if we imagine that your wholly irrelevant hypothetical was relevant, you don't get to drive like a complete moron and cause accidents merely because you don't like the way a different car is being operated. If the other driver has committed a moving violation, the other driver may also be cited for that moving violation.
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Quoting
marshap
Yes the person went on to drive crazy and do some illegal stuff but they felt threatened because they were being pulled over for no legal reason. Does that not matter at all?
Are you arguing that your wife is a psychic, and thus knew why the officer was trying to pull her over even before she chose not to pull over and caused the accident?