Should I Use a SMD Expert

[Cascadian]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington.

My story begins over here:
http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/show...242#post676242

Long story short I got a ticket for going 20 over on I-5, during holiday traffic, and the officer told me and showed me that he got the reading from over 5000 feet away.

I will be filing my request for discovery with the KC Prosecutors office in Burien.

Some questions:

The hearing notice was sent while I was away. I notice on the back that it says the request to produce a SMD expert must be served on the prosecuting office and filed with the clerk of the court at least 30 days prior to the hearing or such lesser time as the court deems proper. The court date is Feb 8. The notice was sent out Jan 10. So even if I had gotten it right away there's no way it would make the 30 day mark. Now it's a bit more than 2 weeks away. I'm also not sure if I want a SMD expert or not -- if the officer says in his statement that I was > 5000 ft away when he did his LIDAR reading I definitely do. If that was omitted from his report, then a SMD expert won't do me much good. And I won't know what's in the report until the prosecutor sends me the discovery info. So, should I just request an SMD expert ASAP and hope it is in the report? What should be my next course of action other than requesting discovery?

Thanks,
Cascadian

[Speedy Gonzalez]

At this point you will just have to wait on the discovery. Once you get that you can determine if you want to ask for a continuance at the hearing.

[Cascadian]

Waiting now for the discovery documents... Another question: would I still be eligible for deferral if it comes to that? I'd heard before that to be eligible for deferral the ticket has to be for a max of 15 over; if it's more than 15 over you couldn't get a finding deferred. But I couldn't find anything that said that in my brief search of the regulations.

[BrendanjKeegan]

Whoever said that is completely wrong. You can receive a deferred finding if you were going 60 over. The only reasons when it would be off the table completely are in cases where the defendant (you) have a CDL (RCW 46.63.070(5)(c)) or where the charge is Neg Driving 2 (RCW 46.63.070(5)(d)).

Different judges will sometimes make their own rules for deferrals as this option is at the discretion of the court. No one but the judge can tell you if you are ineligible per their particular rules.

[Cascadian]

Okay, thanks. The person that told me was actually a Sammamish officer who gave me my first citation -- he told me that although he clocked me going 20 over he was going to write it as 15 over so that I would be eligible. I'm not going to complain too much about him, since I was able to have the citation he gave me dismissed.

[Cascadian]

It's Tuesday now, my court date is Friday, and I have not yet received discovery documents. I sent the request using certified mail with a return receipt. I have the tracking number of the certified mail, and I received the return receipt, both showing they received my request in time.

The last time I was scheduled to go to the district court near my house so I filed everything with the court, this time the court is pretty far away so I did not do things in person. What is needed to show the court that I fulfilled my responsibility in requesting the discovery documents on time?

edited to add:
Apparently I misread the explanation in Barry's discovery request template. I did not realize if you mail the request to the prosecutor that it was still useful to mail it to the court at the same time -- mailing it to the court doesn't prove you mailed it to the prosecutor, so what does it prove any more than using certified mail and getting a dated return receipt? Did I screw myself by not filing with the court?

[BrendanjKeegan]

You don't necessarily need to send the copy to the court CRRR, but you should still send it to the court.

IRLJ 3.1(b) explicitly states that the request needs to be filed with the court and served on the prosecutor.

Yes, you have proof that you served the prosecutor, but it will be up to the discretion of the court to decided if they will allow for dismissal under this rule. I would think that most judges would dismiss if you show them the return receipt.

I must put in caveat- that the argument saying that discovery was not performed correctly is one that a prosecutor should make. Don't bring up the fact that you didn't file with the court.

I would just explain it this way: "Your honor, I move to dismiss this infraction as I requested discovery from the prosecutor and I haven't received it. I have proof of my request with me today."

[Cascadian]

Thanks.

What's the likelihood of a county prosecutor actually showing up to traffic court?

[gogodawgs]

Thanks.

What's the likelihood of a county prosecutor actually showing up to traffic court?

Which court?

The likelihood is rare in most jurisdictions. I have never had one.

[davidmcbeth3]

I don't know how a non-lawyer can practice law ???