ExpertLaw.com Forums

Disputing a Traffic Stop Based on Analysis of Police Video

Printable View

  • 03-23-2016, 05:45 PM
    dalejrfan8
    Disputing a Traffic Stop Based on Analysis of Police Video
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Illinois

    Does anyone know where I can get a police video independently verified of the speed vehicle was traveling? Willing to pay, just need a legit source. I emailed the ISP, have gotten nothing back.

    It was a speeding ticket (officer not certified to use radar) that resulted in DUI, case is over, reduced to speeding, SSS still stands. 9 months of hellish fight. It's just the point he wasn't speeding and I live in a smaller town and still have some things to say, but need some further verification to back up the stand I'm going to take. Welcome to the police state!

    Thanks!
  • 03-23-2016, 06:14 PM
    jk
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    What makes you think a speed can be determined by a video? even if you could, what good do you think it would do now?
  • 03-23-2016, 07:40 PM
    dalejrfan8
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    Well we did it. Figure an expert can. All we did was mark time spots of the car by officer's time in the video, went out and hand measured distances, then used the internet to determine speed ft per second etc. Then we compared it to google earth maps, just a couple feet off on either measurement. I actually changed to google earth maps distance for more accuracy. The officer said in his report that he got behind him and he slowed to 30 mph (supposedly going 46), we had him slowed in that spot to 17 mph not 30! Just so happened I showed my daughter the vid after we'd watched it 3-4x and had the measurements and speeds already done. She said what's that number in the corner? duh we missed the officer's speed on the vid. Sure enough that exact spot the officer was running 16-17mph by his speed. You're saying an expert can't do it and we could? It's just the point I'm old school live in a small town. We have some jerk young (possibly lying) rookie cops. I have had no issues with the veteran officers over the years. I also know someone who was pulled over 45/30 (not drinking) who never speeds, he's a truck driver and gonna cost him big time. and someone pulled over for running a yellow light. If I stand up, I think many will follow and can effect change. I just want a legit opinion to back up my claim.
    The other option is just lie down and take it. Geez, what happened to America where we used to be free?! I read some posts on here and couldn't believe it... That's what's happened to America. Too many laws, no more life experience. If you don't get to really experience life, you don't get to learn limits. I pushed limits as a kid and should have broken bones and died many times. I wish I was born 80 years ago is what I wish, but God has me here for a reason. SIGH!!!!!!! well maybe I'll find a "nice way" to attack the town with no back up claim. Just wish I had one.
  • 03-23-2016, 07:48 PM
    jk
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    you failed to answer my second question

    and Google earth measurements are not more accurate than actually measuring the road yourself
  • 03-23-2016, 07:58 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    If I read this right, what you want is to raise a stink in the media and/or at the city council. Okay. You can do that without some form of expert opinion. You can spout off and if anyone wants to pay attention, they can. You may get some traction, you may not.

    Hopefully you are not angry that an impaired driver got taken off the street! I would also hope that said driver will not drive impaired again.
  • 03-23-2016, 09:27 PM
    dalejrfan8
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    Oh my. Yes I answered the second question and thank you cdwjava, yes I'm aware of that. I started spouting off about other things since this happened in the local paper with no rebuttals which others have had. I'm actually thinking of starting a local grassroots group. I just wanted a legit opinion to back up my claims. I'm not "angry" per se I just grew up in a world where if you weren't hurting anyone or doing anything wrong you weren't persecuted. You were PUNISHED after the CRIME. I grew up in the back of pick up trucks and not wearing seatbelts and in the good old days. I refuse to change. Police officers when I grew up were your friends to "protect and serve" not "enforce and enslave." What I grew up with is the opposite I'm gonna teach my 15 yr old daughter.

    We've deserved many DUI's but did not deserve this one and I thought of that many times. Well we deserved it.... I know many "professional" drunk drivers that never hurt anyone everyday, including us sometimes. It doesn't make me proud of it, just a fact. Recently there was a snow day that was almost marital law! The cops were supposedly issuing tickets for driving and if your car was in a ditch you were towed and fined. WTF? Cars in ditches everywhere. Yet, I managed to make it to town and back twice, once to reschedule my (clients) business people that said they were coming and chickened out, then to town to get fuel (no power). Then later after drinking (snow day!) we're done! had to make a 20 mile roundtrip to pull his non drinking sister out of a ditch. So who was bad? His non drinking sister in a ditch who we saved from a fine? or the drinking people that saved her butt?
    Yet, that didn't stop a recent young man from killing his buddy in a wreck. Nor a local person recently that hit a car, then a building, then 2 people, then 6 more parked cars. My issue is it will never stop as long as we keep punishing people pre-crime and not after the crime. Which is what America was founded on. I'm against the police state and what America has become. We should quit putting people in "a box" so to speak. What do we pass now 40,000 new laws a year? We all commit 2 felonies a day? Busting people pre-crime is not "fixing" anything. It's punishing the possible innocent. Maybe saving the economy but at the same time destroying the economy. Maybe punishing people after the crime would take the stupid people out of the gene pool and/or correct them?
    I used to LOVE the show cops and want to be a cop and/or lawyer. They fought crime and BAD people! I can't even watch the show cops anymore, punishing passengers etc and yes the idiot that fell asleep in 3 lanes of traffic and the good samaritan that parked behind her with his flashers on and called the cops was a hero and she deserved a DUI! That to me is a serious crime, she put people's lives in danger and the kicker was she had a shirt that said "I woke up like dis" classic!! I saved that episode, can't make that up. My mom works in the state of Il DUI dept. She knows I'm a rebel. She asked me once "when you drink and drive do you fall asleep in the middle of traffic?" apparently a TON of people do and they should be busted. I answered UM no....but even someone being responsible now and pulling over to the side of the road to sleep it off is illegal. It should be praised!!! Actually I've been caught twice for that. Minding my OWN BUSINESS asleep in my vehicle, twice on private property, let go. Just the point! Being responsible is illegal.... None of that happened even 15 yrs ago!! This isn't even America. When I grew up, feels like I'm living, reading and getting replies of foreign nonsense. I loved what America used to be. I hate it now and I used to be what I considered a law abiding citizen, ridiculously honest as you can see that didn't hurt anyone and hated crime. Not anymore.


    Never mind I'm on a tangent of change the world to common sense which will NEVER happen.
  • 03-23-2016, 10:39 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    Quote:

    Quoting dalejrfan8
    View Post
    I'm actually thinking of starting a local grassroots group.

    To do what??? If you want to complain, why do you need a "grassroots group"?

    Quote:

    I'm not "angry" per se I just grew up in a world where if you weren't hurting anyone or doing anything wrong you weren't persecuted. You were PUNISHED after the CRIME.
    Last time I checked, impaired driving IS a "crime."

    Quote:

    I grew up in the back of pick up trucks and not wearing seatbelts and in the good old days. I refuse to change.
    I grew up way back then, too. I recall a great many laws that have changed over the decades. But, times they change and we can either choose to follow the laws we cannot change, or dissolve into anarchy.

    Quote:

    Police officers when I grew up were your friends to "protect and serve" not "enforce and enslave." What I grew up with is the opposite I'm gonna teach my 15 yr old daughter.
    Funny ... I never grew up with officers as my "friends." They were friendLY enough, but, not my friends. And I am certainly NOT a "friend" to anyone in the community simply because I might where a badge, though I AM friendLY. And I have never seen an officer or agency act to "enforce and enslave" but, then, I'm in CA not in your burgh. I think you may be engaging in a little bit of hyperbole.

    Quote:

    I know many "professional" drunk drivers that never hurt anyone everyday, including us sometimes. It doesn't make me proud of it, just a fact.
    It also makes you darn lucky! Actually, it makes everyone around you lucky.

    Quote:

    Recently there was a snow day that was almost marital law!
    "Marital" law? We have that at my house, too - my wife rules the roost. ;)

    I presume you meant, "martial" law ... and I doubt that was actually occurring. More hyperbole?

    Quote:

    The cops were supposedly issuing tickets for driving and if your car was in a ditch you were towed and fined. WTF? Cars in ditches everywhere.
    Well, I cannot express an opinion on that one way or the other as I don't know the facts. As a matter of course, if the police have to tow a car, the owner often has to pay a fee for its release. If they were found guilty and assessed a fine, then I suppose that means that they were also issued a parking or moving citation. A cite for sliding off the road in snow and ice would seem beyond the pale, but, I don't know the facts.

    Quote:

    So who was bad? His non drinking sister in a ditch who we saved from a fine? or the drinking people that saved her butt?
    The drinking people likely put far more people at risk. You know the old saying, "Two wrongs do not make a right."

    Quote:

    Yet, that didn't stop a recent young man from killing his buddy in a wreck. Nor a local person recently that hit a car, then a building, then 2 people, then 6 more parked cars. My issue is it will never stop as long as we keep punishing people pre-crime and not after the crime.
    What "pre-crime" are you talking about? Are you actually trying to DEFEND impaired driving??? :eek: You'd prefer to wait for the carnage than prevent it???

    I've pulled far too many bodies from DUI wrecks to concede for a moment that DUI is a victimless crime, and had to tell the parents - friends of mine - that one of their daughters was killed and the other paralyzed and flown to a trauma center when struck by an impaired driver. Too many memories. I have no sympathy for impaired drivers, and will arrest them when they are, indeed, impaired.

    Quote:

    What do we pass now 40,000 new laws a year? We all commit 2 felonies a day?
    My state does not pass 40,000 new laws. And I know that *I* do not commit two felonies a day. Heck, I haven't committed a single one ... ever.

    Quote:

    I used to LOVE the show cops and want to be a cop and/or lawyer. They fought crime and BAD people!
    They still do. Heck, WE still do. That hasn't changed. Well, when some people find out that their actions might make them "bad" people then I guess that changes one's perspective.

    Quote:

    Never mind I'm on a tangent of change the world to common sense which will NEVER happen.
    You are correct. We will NOT legalize DUI. In fact, there is currently a push to lower the per se BAC limit to .05. I've been all for that since I became an officer a quarter century ago! It may be a few years before that happens - if ever - but, I am glad to see that the discussion on that is happening given the annual casualty count for DUI.
  • 03-24-2016, 03:57 AM
    jk
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    Quote:

    Quoting dalejrfan8
    View Post
    Oh my. Yes I answered the second question and thank you cdwjava, yes I'm aware of that. I started spouting off about other things since this happened in the local paper with no rebuttals which others have had. I'm actually thinking of starting a local grassroots group. I just wanted a legit opinion to back up my claims. I'm not "angry" per se I just grew up in a world where if you weren't hurting anyone or doing anything wrong you weren't persecuted. You were PUNISHED after the CRIME. I grew up in the back of pick up trucks and not wearing seatbelts and in the good old days. I refuse to change. Police officers when I grew up were your friends to "protect and serve" not "enforce and enslave." What I grew up with is the opposite I'm gonna teach my 15 yr old daughter.

    We've deserved many DUI's but did not deserve this one and I thought of that many times. Well we deserved it.... I know many "professional" drunk drivers that never hurt anyone everyday, including us sometimes. It doesn't make me proud of it, just a fact. Recently there was a snow day that was almost marital law! The cops were supposedly issuing tickets for driving and if your car was in a ditch you were towed and fined. WTF? Cars in ditches everywhere. Yet, I managed to make it to town and back twice, once to reschedule my (clients) business people that said they were coming and chickened out, then to town to get fuel (no power). Then later after drinking (snow day!) we're done! had to make a 20 mile roundtrip to pull his non drinking sister out of a ditch. So who was bad? His non drinking sister in a ditch who we saved from a fine? or the drinking people that saved her butt?
    Yet, that didn't stop a recent young man from killing his buddy in a wreck. Nor a local person recently that hit a car, then a building, then 2 people, then 6 more parked cars. My issue is it will never stop as long as we keep punishing people pre-crime and not after the crime. Which is what America was founded on. I'm against the police state and what America has become. We should quit putting people in "a box" so to speak. What do we pass now 40,000 new laws a year? We all commit 2 felonies a day? Busting people pre-crime is not "fixing" anything. It's punishing the possible innocent. Maybe saving the economy but at the same time destroying the economy. Maybe punishing people after the crime would take the stupid people out of the gene pool and/or correct them?
    I used to LOVE the show cops and want to be a cop and/or lawyer. They fought crime and BAD people! I can't even watch the show cops anymore, punishing passengers etc and yes the idiot that fell asleep in 3 lanes of traffic and the good samaritan that parked behind her with his flashers on and called the cops was a hero and she deserved a DUI! That to me is a serious crime, she put people's lives in danger and the kicker was she had a shirt that said "I woke up like dis" classic!! I saved that episode, can't make that up. My mom works in the state of Il DUI dept. She knows I'm a rebel. She asked me once "when you drink and drive do you fall asleep in the middle of traffic?" apparently a TON of people do and they should be busted. I answered UM no....but even someone being responsible now and pulling over to the side of the road to sleep it off is illegal. It should be praised!!! Actually I've been caught twice for that. Minding my OWN BUSINESS asleep in my vehicle, twice on private property, let go. Just the point! Being responsible is illegal.... None of that happened even 15 yrs ago!! This isn't even America. When I grew up, feels like I'm living, reading and getting replies of foreign nonsense. I loved what America used to be. I hate it now and I used to be what I considered a law abiding citizen, ridiculously honest as you can see that didn't hurt anyone and hated crime. Not anymore.


    Never mind I'm on a tangent of change the world to common sense which will NEVER happen.

    No, you didn't answer what the benefit the proof would do for you. You went off on some near sovereign citizen level tirade about the inequities within the law.

    the fact remains you were convicted of a crime. If you wanted to contest the charge, the time to do it was during the trial. Now you simply sound like some whacko that is upset they lost in court.

    if all of this evidence was present for the trial why did you lose? Is it there may have been a plea bargain that allowed the dui to be dropped? If so, it may be best to take your "win" and run with it. Especially given it is a small town making enemies is not a good idea.
  • 03-24-2016, 05:40 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Independent Vehicle Speed Verification
    The process by which distances or speeds are calculated from video is called photogrammetry. It's possible to retain a photogrammetry expert to analyze a video to try to determine a vehicle's speed or relative speed. What the expert might be able to determine will depend upon what the video actually shows.

    If the drunk driver already entered a guilty plea to speeding, in order to avoid a conviction for the drunk driving charge, then the case is over. Home-brewed measurements and calculations aren't likely to be particularly convincing, nor is it clear who there is to convince. Spending thousands of dollars on an expert to review a tape, following such a plea deal, does not seem to me to be the best use of money.

    Had you not chosen to drive while drunk, you might have avoided even getting a speeding ticket.
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:40 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4
Copyright © 2023 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 - 2018 ExpertLaw.com, All Rights Reserved