How to Contest a Stop Sign Violation, VC 22450(A)

[donzoh1]

It's true, as I mentioned before, that IDR can possibly inspire the officer to be more diligent than normal. That's one of the risks and it applies to TBD as well as in court. If you can delay your arraignment and then your trial for as long as possible, and then do IDR (make sure to allow 20 days for response), then you increase the chances that notes will be lost, evidence will be lost, etc. Meanwhile, the reason the officer said nothing after your admission is you finally said what he wanted to hear. Whether or not it was recorded is irrelevant. Even if it was not, he wrote it down as soon as he went back to his car. That's why you should have exercised your right to remain silent.

I'd suggest that you read again the suggestions that L-1 made and then consider carefully your next move, in about 3 or 4 months. Set a calendar alarm for 25 or so days prior to your due date, then request more delays or send in your IDR. Or, you can request TBD. You should read the California Rules of Court on TBD thoroughly.

[cdwjava]

It may be important to note that a discovery request may not ever come to the officer's attention. Unless the agency is a small one, the records division and the officers that write citations are unlikely to ever cross paths, and there is no mechanism in place that I have ever heard of to alert an officer that notes about his case have been requested. Heck, I work at a smaller agency, and I assume that the other party has sought and received discovery. In traffic cases, they very often do not request it ... but, it's safe to assume so anyway.

As for delays ... hey, if it works for you, great. The officer gets subpoenaed each time so he will not likely notice any delay. A subpoena 30 days from now or a year from now really makes little difference to him. And memory can be a two way street ... his may fade a bit, but so will yours.

[donzoh1]

It may be important to note that a discovery request may not ever come to the officer's attention. Unless the agency is a small one, the records division and the officers that write citations are unlikely to ever cross paths, and there is no mechanism in place that I have ever heard of to alert an officer that notes about his case have been requested. Heck, I work at a smaller agency, and I assume that the other party has sought and received discovery. In traffic cases, they very often do not request it ... but, it's safe to assume so anyway.

As for delays ... hey, if it works for you, great. The officer gets subpoenaed each time so he will not likely notice any delay. A subpoena 30 days from now or a year from now really makes little difference to him. And memory can be a two way street ... his may fade a bit, but so will yours.

I was thinking someone from records would notify the officer of the request for notes, officer's citation copy, etc. I have gotten officer's citation copies, front and back before and I just assumed he had been somehow notified and provided them.

It is true that memories fade for both parties. However, the motorist gets pulled over rarely and the officer may make hundreds or thousands of stops in a year. In any event, I would suggest that the defendant make notes as well which he can refer to at trial (assuming proper foundation). In the event that both parties forget what happened, the party most likely to benefit would be the defendant, although memory lapse could be overcome by the officer assuming he made notes after the stop and still has access to them.

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On the OP's question of what happens if his IDR is ignored:

First, you don't get an automatic dismissal. A judge has a number of sanctions to impose on a party who ignores discovery. (Keep in mind that when you make an IDR, you also have disclosure obligations regarding evidence you intend to present at trial.) Most often, if a party has ignored discovery, the judge will simply give the opposing party some time to review the evidence. But, it never hurts to ask the judge to preclude the introduction of evidence.

If you can show that your defense was damaged by the refusal to provide evidence, you are in a strong position. But, it's quite possible that the prosecution has no evidence other than the officer's testimony. If that's the case, you don't have much of an argument. Sometimes officer don't make notes. Unfortunately for you, this one probably did because you virtually admitted your guilt at the traffic stop.

[cdwjava]

I was thinking someone from records would notify the officer of the request for notes, officer's citation copy, etc. I have gotten officer's citation copies, front and back before and I just assumed he had been somehow notified and provided them.

The citations are generally turned in to Records after they are written. Some agencies have the officers hold onto the entire book until they are all completed and then they turn the whole book in. But, with no more than 25 cites in a book, a book might last only a month or two even for a typical patrol officer in a large or medium sized agency - a week if the officer is a Traffic officer.