Quote Quoting gsxr600
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I'll spare the minor details but essentially:

-Cop's visual estimate was 60
-Radar was 56
-Cop wrote 55 to stay in 15mph threshold (how magnanimous)
-CVC 22350
A couple more questions:

  • What county is your court in?
  • What was the posted speed limit? (I'm inferring 40mph from your comments, but I'd like to be certain)


Just a reminder that you have to get the TR-220 form to the clerk within 20 days of the date they mailed you the guilty decision. A lot of courts are notorious for losing these forms when they're mailed in. It's worth your time to go there in person to file the request for a new trial, if you can. At some courts, the clerks are willing to be flexible about when they set the date for your new trial so bring your calendar.

Quote Quoting gsxr600
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1) Is there any way I can run this around until next year? I renew my insurance late December. They sent the decision quicker than I thought (and hoped).
That's going to be tricky. By Cal Rule of Court 4.210(b)(7), the clerk is supposed to schedule your trial date within 45 days of receipt of your TR-220. The vehicle code grants you the ability to request a single continuance. If you take the maximum number of days for each step, and request a continuance, it might put you into early January. However, many courts report an abstract of conviction as soon as they find you guilty in the TBWD. (Santa Clara County did this to me.) The rules require them to file the abstract within 5 days after sentence is pronounced (see CVC 1803), which means it's not technically against the rules for them to do this even if you're going to request a TDN. If the clerk at the court is accommodating, you might be able to get a later court date, but it's a crap shoot if that will help.

Quote Quoting gsxr600
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2) Is it possible to obtain a copy of the cop's TBD through mail?
You have to go to the court in order to obtain the records from your TBD. It's worth your time to do this, though. I grabbed the records from my TBD and having the officer's documents was invaluable for preparing my own arguments. The court should let you look at the records for free, but they usually charge for photocopies. (Somewhere around 75 cents a page.)

Quote Quoting gsxr600
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3) How do I request discovery?
You write up a request that describes what you want, and then you have a friend mail this request to the DA and Police.

Fight Your Ticket and Win in California is a reasonable resource for procedural matters, but the author perpetuates urban myths that aren't supported by the law or precedent in other parts of his book. A sample discovery request is here. It needs to be mailed with a proof of service. An example of that is here. You'll need to modify it to state what's actually being mailed and to whom.

Quote Quoting gsxr600
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4) What exactly do I request in discovery?
What do you want to discover? What's relevant to your case? It might be easier to get the documents from the courthouse.

That said, the law does place a limit on what you're able to request from discovery. According to Penal Code 1054.1, you can request:

1054.1. The prosecuting attorney shall disclose to the defendant or his or her attorney all of the following materials and information, if it is in the possession of the prosecuting attorney or if the prosecuting attorney knows it to be in the possession of the investigating agencies:
(a) The names and addresses of persons the prosecutor intends to call as witnesses at trial.
(b) Statements of all defendants.
(c) All relevant real evidence seized or obtained as a part of the investigation of the offenses charged.
(d) The existence of a felony conviction of any material witness whose credibility is likely to be critical to the outcome of the trial.
(e) Any exculpatory evidence.
(f) Relevant written or recorded statements of witnesses or reports of the statements of witnesses whom the prosecutor intends to call at the trial, including any reports or statements of experts made in conjunction with the case, including the results of physical or mental examinations, scientific tests, experiments, or comparisons which the prosecutor intends to offer in evidence at the trial.

The information requested needs to be relevant to the case, within a-f, and in the possession of the prosecuting attorney or the investigative agency.

Your court may also have local rules that govern discovery. It makes sense to check these beforehand.

Quote Quoting gsxr600
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5) Whom do I request discovery to?
We've had lots of arguments about this on the forum, but your best bet is to mail the request to both the DA and the agency that gave you the ticket. The DA may send you a polite letter telling you they don't respond to these requests, or they may ignore it. The police department may or may not respond. In my case, they gave me as little information as they possibly could, so be specific about what you're looking for if possible.