Speeding Ticket in Pierce County Washington, Contested Hearing

[Jay B]

My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: Washington.

On 1/27/11 I received a speeding ticket (75 in a 60 zone) in Pierce County on I-5 near exit 127. I responded to the NOI yesterday (2/1/11) in person at Pierce County District Court #1 and received a date of March 22nd for my Contested Hearing. Persuant to LARLJ 7B, I also submitted a Discovery Request for the following:

1. A copy of the infraction.
2. A copy of the officer's report.
3. A copy of the SMD certification.

As soon as I get the discovery items back I will post them for review. However my initial question is regarding LIRLJ 2.2. When I responded to the NOI the clerk informed me that there was no record yet (obviously the officer has until Friday to file it) but when she took my copy she stamped it "Filed from the Green" with the date. Does this mean my ticket has now been filed as it pertains to this law? I'm assuming it does not however the law does not appear to specify who has to file, just that "When the Notice of Infraction is presented to the Court, the Court clerk shall stamp the citation with the current date and the infraction shall be deemed filed on that date..."

Anyway maybe I am just reading too much into this. Any and all help would be much appreciated and as I said, I will post the documents from discovery as soon as I receive them from the court. Thank you.

[BrendanjKeegan]

I think a judge would side with you if the only NOI filed for your case was yours and not the officer's. Just wait and see when the officer files it.

[Jay B]

A little bit more background information on my circumstances:
I would just bite the bullet on this one but I know I was not speeding. I had my cruise control set to 60 MPH at the time because I always see state troopers on that section of I-5 in morning. I was also driving in the far left lane while the trooper was parked on the right shoulder perpendicular to the highway. I was obstructed from his view driving next to an 18-wheeler until I was only about 150 feet from him, which makes me a little curious as to how he could have clocked my speed from 592 feet. I also noticed that his window was rolled up and he was not holding any kind of SMD, which is why I was quite surprised when he pulled me over. However, obviously I cannot prove any of this, and I doubt a judge would be interested in hearing it.

Here is the link to the scanned images of discovery items which I just got back from the court:

http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...ding%20Ticket/

Everything looks pretty thorough although I would very much appreciate an insight you all might have. There are really only a couple of things I can think of here and they deal with the officer's statement. First of all he does not specifically state which Laser SMD he was using to measure my speed at the time I was cited. All he says is that he obtained a reading "with the Laser SMD....the Laser SMD PRO laser 3, WSP tag number L1213 has been certified for accuracy" etc. I only bring it up because I've seen other reports like this where the officer says something to the effect of "I was using the Laser SMD with tag/serial nunber xxxx to measure the defendant's speed on the above date..."

Second, the officer does not say that the SMD passed the accuracy checks he performed, only that he performed them. He goes on to say that the unit was found to be in proper working order before and after the stop, but he does not specifically address the results of the accuracy tests.

I may be grasping at straws here so if any one in the forum has knowledge of case law that would support my defense or information specific to Pierce County I would greatly appreciate it.