My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington
I could understand if I was actually breaking the law but I am getting really tired of having to defend myself in court all the time. I know this time it is my fault for driving a red car and the officer noted that in his sworn testimony. Do I have any chance of defending against the officers lies? I have a witness who is my wife and can corroborate that the officer wrote down completely incorrect information but she will be out of town on the court date. Can I have her sign a sworn testimony too and submit that to the court?
I would scan this but the only relevant non-PII information I would not have to redact is the officer’s sworn statement I received in discovery typed out below:
On 4-8-14, I was assigned uniformed patrol as 3W36. I was on patrol near the intersection of Limitary Rd. S and S 288th street when I heard a loud engine and saw a fast moving red vehicle northbound on Military Rd. South. I had to accelerate to a high rate of speed to catch up to the vehicle around the 28400 block of Military Rd. South. As I came up to about 5 car-lengths behind the vehicle, I paced the vehicle at 65+ mph in a signed 45mph zone for about ¼ mile. I got closer to the vehicle and plate listed as he slowed for the stoplight at S 272nd and Military Rd. South. He accelrated [sic] with a high revving engine when the light turned green and proceeded north bound. I saw the vehicle swerve quickly to the right to avoid a person crossing the road wearing a traffic type vest. I stopped the vehicle at about the 26400 block of Military Rd. South. The listed driver was identified by valid WA driver’s license and he produced a Gieco [sic] insurance card and registration. The vehicle had aftermarket exhaust, wheels and rims. The vehicle had painted stripes on the hood. Listed driver cited for speeding 20 mph over speed limit.
I noted all of the spelling mistakes. Can I provide evidence that the zone is actually posted as a 40MPH zone instead of what the officer wrote down as 45MPH or would that just look worse? The officer seemed really confused that night. He actually asked me how fast the zone was (I said 45 just to test him) and he just wrote down what I said as 45 even though it is clearly posted as 40MPH in this stretch.
I actually saw the officer turn left and pull in behind me from 272nd right after I had started off from the light at that intersection so I know he was not pacing me at the 28400 block as he claims. I had to come to a complete stop at the light and there was no one behind me in fact. Is ¼ mile enough distance to pace someone? The person he mentioned was not crossing the road but actually walking down the center double yellow line, I had actually expected the officer that was following me to stop and talk to him when he sped up right after we passed the pedestrian and pulled me over instead.
It seems like he is trying to profile me as some kind of street racer, I have never raced on the street or on a track in my life. The 16” inch rims and tires on my car are the stock rims and yes they are cheapest tires I could find for these rims at $25 apiece. My exhaust is aftermarket as it is a 25 year old car. When you get up to freeway speeds you can really tell because my differential produces a lot of noise that my mechanic said is fine for now. However, it seems like he wrote it specifically to avoid any chance of it being thrown out in court even though nary a lick of it is true and accurate. Is there anything I can attack here? The prosecutor’s office said I would have to get any kind of speedometer calibration records from the police department. Has anyone else done this or have any idea how I would go about this? Thank you in advance for any help you can give
~Spike~



