I was "clocked by on-board radar" (quote by the officer) at 53 in 40 mph zone, in a small village in Metro Cleveland area. Since I myself live in Georgia, and come to OH for business about 1-2 times a month, I've not heard of "on-board" radars before. So, I did some research and found out that those display 2 readings: patrol car's speed and target's speed.
Question 1: How does radar determine patrol car's speed?
Question 2: How wide is the sweep area of a moving radar? I doubt that it has stationary 12 degree beam pointing into one direction, so it must sweep the area in front of the patrol car.
So far, here are some of the interesting things that I discovered, which makes me believe that I can beat this thing:
- I was traveling on that road for a distance of approximately .5 mile (and I actually have proof that demonstrates where I turned from!)
- This was my first time taking that route and I was looking for my destination, which was .9 mile from the turn (I have proof of that too).
- -- (So based on these 2 factors, I had no reason to go faster than 40 while looking for my intended destination).
- The road has 4 lanes (2 in each direction), divided by a line of small trees, which do not obstruct vision, but make it impossible to visually estimate vehicle's speed (got proof of that too).
- The citation shows "medium" traffic density, which means there were other cars on the road.
- -- (Question 3 -- Is it possible that radar locked on a car 100-200 feet behind me?)
- The citation shows "rain", "wet pavement", "cloudy visibility", while I have proof that rain was over for at least 30 minutes prior to citation issuance (I was really surprised by that "Rain" check-mark, since I knew there was no rain when I was driving). Visibility was 5-6 miles.
- I have requested a bunch of documents, but received only following:
- Officer's notes (color and make of my car, radar type, and patrol hours -- NOTHING ELSE!!!)
- Tuning forks and radar's calibration records and certificates
- Officer training certificate
- Here is the kicker: officer is trained on Decatur Genesis, forks are certified by Decatur Electronics, his notes say that he operated Genesis, but RADAR ASSIGNED TO HIS CAR is Kustom Pro 1000!!!!
- Also, Prosecutor told me that Operating Manuals, Training Manuals, State Regulations, etc. are not available through the police department and that he could not obtain them for me even though I requested them.
So, with so many angles to spin, and considering that this is a Mayor's Court, what would be my best questioning/fact presenting strategy be? I don't have sufficient legal education to use appropriate language, I am not quick at the draw when presented with questions or witty responses (I can think of a good approach and come back to you after 5-10 minutes, but not right on the spot), and, therefore, look for a bullet-proof presentation of the facts.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

