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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    1

    Default Speeding - FOIA Denied, And Officer Bias

    I'm in Michigan, Washtenaw County Sheriff issued citation.

    Ticket reads: 66 in a 50, Radar locked at 63.

    I have two issues with the ticket which I am going to use in court.

    My FOIA request form which i filled out directly with sheriff department online through their own FOIA request form (I asked for calibration/maintenance log, officer radar certification, and speed survery) resulted in a letter returned to me and a box checked "request denied- either no records exist, or no records exist under that name". Is this grounds for dismissal? are they required to have these records to issue me a citation? or where do i go from here. will the officer have these records in court?

    If I cant get it dismissed somehow I'm going to go to my next arguement.... I know that prooving the officer is a jerk will not work, but when the officer approached my vehicle the first thing he said was some comments about me (i'm younger) driving a bright shiny new red truck. He also admitted that there were other vehicles around but he knew it was me because he couldn't miss me being in a big red truck, is it possible i could try to argue he got the wrong vehicle and just picked me out because of my vehicle?

    I'm going to try to show the officers biases and inconsistencies because when talking to me he said 66 at one time 63 at another, and 10 over at another which would be 60. When he returned to the vehicle he said "i wrote this ticket for 66 because your just going to take it to court and get it reduced anyways" could i use that statement to show that he exaggerated the speed on the ticket because of his biases about me and my vehicle?

    I was in fact speeding but not 66. My speedo was on about 58-59 and theres a chance that is off because of the size of my tires, so honestly at tops i was doing 60-61 in a 50 and i got a ticket for 16 over. I did think that the speed limit was 55 and I thought I'd be fine doing 59. I am at least hoping to get it reduced, even if i get it down 1 mph then I'm in the 11-15 over instead of the 16+ bracket in which I'll get 4 points. If it says radar locked at 63 do I have a good shot? i have never had a speeding ticket before. what angles should i pursue and what is my best arguement here.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Speeding- FOIA Denied, And Officer Bias?

    Quote Quoting andydh
    View Post
    My FOIA request form which i filled out directly with sheriff department online through their own FOIA request form (I asked for calibration/maintenance log, officer radar certification, and speed survery) resulted in a letter returned to me and a box checked "request denied- either no records exist, or no records exist under that name". Is this grounds for dismissal? are they required to have these records to issue me a citation? or where do i go from here. will the officer have these records in court?
    You get that information through DISCOVERY, not through a state's open records' request. If you make the proper request through discovery, and they cannot produce the documents, then chances are that they will not be able to certify the accuracy of the device and you may prevail.

    I am not familiar with your state's procedures for traffic issues, but if it is similar to mine, then the state often has to present some proof of maintenance, calibration, and officer certification.

    i could try to argue he got the wrong vehicle and just picked me out because of my vehicle?
    You can argue anything you want.

    When he returned to the vehicle he said "i wrote this ticket for 66 because your just going to take it to court and get it reduced anyways" could i use that statement to show that he exaggerated the speed on the ticket because of his biases about me and my vehicle?
    What he probably told you was that he clocked you at 66 and locked you in at 63. Since 66 was the high end of what he clocked you at, that was what he wrote. But, again, you can argue anything you want in court.

    Your best bet would be to get an attorney to fight it for you. Absent that, good luck.


    - Carl

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