My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: New Jersey
I was given a ticket for 39:4-144 Disregard Stop Sign Regulation or Yield Sign.
I was in a residential area approaching an uncontrolled T intersection. As I slowed down and put my signal on prior to turning right I could see a cop pulled over with his headlights on the right hand side of the intersecting street which was to my left as I approached the the T. I made a right turn and did not travel more than 5ft onto the intersecting road when he started to following behind me and lit me up and pulled me over. He gave me a total of 4 tickets.
39:8-1 Failure to have inspection
39:8-4 Failure to make repairs
39:3-33 Improper display/Unclear plates
When I asked him why he was pulling me over, he stated "because you blew through that stop sign back there."
The issue is, there is no stop sign or yield sign ANYWHERE on the street I was driving up nor is there any stop or yield sign on the intersecting street. There never has been for at least the last two years that I've driven down that road.
He totally fabricated the entire reason for pulling me over and proceeded to give me an additional 3 tickets. My car had been inspected and was rejected due to an emission problem. There was a rejection sticker clearly visible on the windshield. When he questioned me as to why the car hadn't been inspected I told him it had been and was rejected and I needed to make repairs and that I had a grace period until the end of the month to do so. He wanted to see the documentation and I told him it was in my home. I really do have the paperwork showing that my car was in a grace period. He proceeded to write the tickets anyway. I went to court yesterday and spoke with the prosecutor. She told me she would throw out the other 3 tickets if I would plead guilty to the Disregard stop/yield sign ticket. She wouldn't look at my pictures clearly showing that there aren't any such signs on that road, anywhere and she was very short and snarky with me. I asked her how much the fine was and she said 400+ dollars. I was shocked. I opted to go to trial because I told her I wasn't going to plead guilty to something I hadn't done. When I got home and actually looked at the fine on the 39:4-144 ticket, it said $85.00. So, basically, she was trying to get me to pay for all of the tickets, even though she said she would throw the other three out. I went back into the court and notified the judge that I wanted to have a trial. I have all of my pictures, the vehicle report showing my grace date for re-inspection which was well after these tickets were issued. I also have the cop on tape telling me he issued me the ticket for "blowing through the stop sign back there" and the sign doesn't exist. I would appreciate any advice, thoughts or opinions as to how to present my case before the judge. I feel it should be a pretty open and shut case, but as many of us know, the judicial system, no matter how right a person is, jades the facts to find a way to make us appear wrong. Thank you in advance for any help any one can or will provide.
Lisa

