Cell Phone Ticket, But Driver Wasn't Using a Phone

[cb12345]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: CA, LA County

I just received a cell phone ticket, but wasn't using my cell phone. Cell phone was in a pants pocket & not in view. The officer said he saw my hand up to my head & using a cell phone. I did have my hand up & was messing with my ear (yes its a dumb excuse), officer was traveling in opposite direction & pulled a u-turn. I explained this to the officer & he didn't care. I asked if he'd like to see the cell phone history, his response was that I could have deleted the phone call.

Couple of questions:
1. Ticket says an infraction - does that mean it will impact my insurance?
2. Are cell phone tickets cumulative, if I get another would the cost go up? IE is it like a parking ticket or a speeding ticket.
3. I'd like to fight this in court & do I stand a chance? If I get the Verizon wireless bill & show that there were no phone calls for an hour in either direction will this be enough to convince the judge? Will a printed bill from the web page be enough, or do I need Verizon to send me a copy, or do I need something more like a certified copy of the bill?

[CourtClerk]

There are tons of things that you could be doing on your cell phone that wouldn't show up on your bill (like sending a text, reading a text, using the internet, using the calculator, checking the weather)....

All tickets received have a cumulative effect in a sense. Some of the fine amounts (like cell phone tickets) are progressive, others just incur a "priors" fee, some incur both.

[davidmcbeth3]

You won't need a "certified" copy of your bill ... the original will do fine. Go ahead and make your arguments ... listen to what the officer says and cross him, if he is there.

[quirkyquark]

There are tons of things that you could be doing on your cell phone that wouldn't show up on your bill (like sending a text, reading a text, using the internet, using the calculator, checking the weather)....

But, conceivably, none of the above while "holding your hand up to your head/ear"... vvvvvv

The officer said he saw my hand up to my head & using a cell phone. I did have my hand up & was messing with my ear...

In response to OP's other questions:

1. No, not a moving violation, so no points = no effect on insurance.
2. Yes, they are cumulative and the fine goes up if you get more than one (two) in a given period.
3. Just get on the phone with Verizon and ask them to MAIL you the relevant bill. Take that and the envelope to court. No need to "certify" an original document.

Since there's no points, and no traffic school, you have nothing to lose by fighting. Do a trial by written declaration first, and include a COPY/printout of the bill. Argue that since you were holding it up to your head/ear, it must have been making/receiving/listening to a phone call which would be reflected on your bill. If you lose, get a copy of the officer's declaration and post it here, so we can try to help with your "trial de novo" (second shot, in the courtroom this time).

[CourtClerk]

You can listen to your voice mail without accessing the airtime on your phone...

at least those with the same phone and those in that same class can...

[Speedy Gonzalez]

You can listen to your voice mail without accessing the airtime on your phone...

at least those with the same phone and those in that same class can...

That depends on your carrier. Every carrier I have ever had logs and/or charges minutes for accessing your voicemail.

[quirkyquark]

You can listen to your voice mail without accessing the airtime on your phone...

at least those with the same phone and those in that same class can...

As speedy said, plain old voicemail inevitably involves a call somewhere and will show up on the logs, regardless of whether that airtime counts towards your minutes or not.

We're not talking about less common scenarios like visual voicemail on iPhones, where the phone locally stores voicemails, or even more fringe ones like using Google Voice or VOIP over a phones data connection. There are any number of such exceptions depending on phone/carrier/etc, but "coulda" shouldn't cut it...gotta be beyond a reasonable doubt.

If OPs bill shows data connection times/charges separately, I recommend he attach that to the call records too.

[cb12345]

Yes my bill does show all calls including voicemail. Voicemail appears as 000-000-0086 with a description of VM.

The officer did specifically say that he saw my hand up to my head using a cell phone, so hopefully that is also in his notes.

The verizon billing period ends in a couple days, then I'll be able to ask for a copy of the statement. I did look at the statement on line & it shows no calls for that day. There was one call that was missed (I can see that on the phone) but it was at a different time & does not appear on the bill.

Thanks.