Can a Court Decide a TBWD Without Getting a Statement from the Officer

[Randor]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California (LA County)

Apologies if this had been answered, I hadn't see this in other threads. I submitted my TR-205 at the courthouse on 10/11/16 (my due date; the court clerk gave me a copy of the confirmation page showing timely submittal) and, to my surprise, I received my Notice of Decision from the Court (Guilty) today; Court's decision entered 10/14/16 with a 10/18/16 Certificate of Mailing on the back.

It took the court less than 3 days to review my case and issue a ruling, am I off-base in thinking that this seems rather quick? If my understanding is correct that the officer is not prompted to submit their declaration (TR-210) until after the court receives the TR-205 from the defendant (since the officer needs to know what the defendant is claiming), then can a judge make a ruling without a TR-210 from the officer? My two educated guesses what could have happened are:

The officer was notified of my TWBD after my arraignment in September and had already submitted their TR-210 by the time the court received my TR-205

OR

I made a mistake by submitting a copy of my citation with my TR-205 as supporting evidence (to highlight inconsistencies written by the officer). Perhaps my doing so rendered the judge's need receive a TR-210 from the officer unnecessary?
___________

All told, I don't see that I have much recourse at this point besides requesting a TDN within 20 days, I just thought it was odd given that most other posters seem to have gotten their rulings several weeks or months down the road and would appreciate the input of more knowledgable experts.

[cdwjava]

The practice may vary by court, but, when I have done TBWD declarations as an officer, I received the notice without any info on what the defendant was claiming. My notice would be sent to me the day after filing and I would respond that day (or,on my first day after work). As an officer I would not generally know when the defendant made the request or even filed his form, much less what he alleged in it.

Your recourse at this point, if you wish to continue to contest the cite, would be to request a trial de novo and hope you can prevail there.

[Jim Kozlovich]

I would think that the court wouldn't be able to find you Guilty if the officer didn't file his/her statement. A trial by declaration is still a trial only it is being submitted to the court without oral argument, only on written statements by the parties. If the citing officer fails to show up for the trial, whether in person or by written declaration, the case should be dismissed.

As stated in the previous post, your best option right now is a TDN. What you need to do though is get a copy of the officer's statement as well any supporting documents. You should be able to get this from the court clerk. By doing this you will get a preview of the officers testimony which will help you better prepare your defense.

If there is no statement by the officer, another option you have although a little more complicated, is to file a motion to set aside the verdict and move for a dismissal for failure to prosecute. It may take a little research but it is not that difficult. Keep in mind that proceedings in traffic case are a lot less formal than regular criminal trials.

I made a mistake by submitting a copy of my citation with my TR-205 as supporting evidence (to highlight inconsistencies written by the officer). Perhaps my doing so rendered the judge's need receive a TR-210 from the officer unnecessary?

That wouldn't make any difference, the court already has a copy of your citation.

[flyingron]

He could very well have incriminated himself in his own statement. There's no requirement for the officer to submit the citation AGAIN for the TBD to be decided.

[Randor]

Thank you to all for your input; per cdwjava's experience, it seems overwhelmingly likely that my court notified the officer of my TBWD shortly after my arraignment in early September and already had his TR-210 by the time I submitted my TR-205.

He could very well have incriminated himself in his own statement. There's no requirement for the officer to submit the citation AGAIN for the TBD to be decided.

I made no mention of nor admission to the infraction for which I was cited (failure to obey a sign), my statement was limited to "I stand by my plea of not guilty" along with two supporting documents, one being a copy of the citation showing that my name and vehicle registration information listed is incorrect and the other being my Discovery Request (for a copy of the notes on the officer's ticket) to which I have received no response.

What you need to do though is get a copy of the officer's statement as well any supporting documents. You should be able to get this from the court clerk.

Do I need to make any sort of advance arrangement with the clerk desk? If not, I'm thinking I can ask for this when I drop off my TR-220 in the next week or so.

[Jim Kozlovich]

Do I need to make any sort of advance arrangement with the clerk desk?

No need to give them advanced warning, just ask them for it when you drop your other documents off.

[Randor]

Just to update, I received a copy of the Officer's Declaration (TR-235) from the court today (while I was there filing my TDN request) which confirms that cdwjava's interpretation was correct and that my prior understanding/assumptions of the TBWD (at least in LA County) process was false; the court notifies the officer of to submit their declaration without first waiting to receive the TR-205 from the defendant.

Thanks again to those who responded!