My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: Washington
So here’s the story…
Driving in Redmond up the hill on Redmond Way/85th towards Kirkland. No idea what my speed was, but it wasn’t unreasonable. So I’m about to pass over 132nd and pass into Kirkland when I see a cop come flying around the bend behind me, drives past me, jams on his brakes in the middle of the road and stops, I pass by him, then he pulls me over.
Officer said I was doing 52 in a 40….12 over in the middle of the night (you’ve got the be freaking kidding me). Hands me a ticket for $152 and he’s on his way.
I believe the officer pulled me over by mistake, thinking I was someone else. Here's my supporting details:
- The officer came from around a blind bend, out of sight to pull me over. Therefore, after passing by the officer the person committing the infraction (either me, or someone else) was completely out of his field of view for a period of time thus leaving open the possibility that he mistakenly pulled over the wrong car. Between where he supposedly witnessed me commit the infraction, and where he actually pulled me over, there are several driveways and side streets that the "other car" could've easily turned down while he was out of sight of the officer. I was probably just the next black car he saw.
- When he approached me, he drove right past me, jammed on his brakes, waited for me to pass him, then pulled me over. This proves that the officer did not immediately recognize my car when approaching me from behind, further supposing the theory that I was not the right person
- It was the middle of the night, so it was dark and the officer's sight and ability to decipher detail was limited
- On the ticket, he wrote that I had a 4D sedan when my car is a 2D convertible
So, as I see it, there easily could’ve been another black car that was behind me, was in fact speeding, and before the cop could catch up, he turned down one of the streets or into a driveway. I was the next black car on the road so he pulled me over. Like I said, the officer came from OUT OF SIGHT, AROUND A BLIND BEND before he pulled me over. The officer’s judgment is obviously questionable because he sped past me before deciding to pull me over. He clearly could’ve made a mistake and pulled me over, thinking I was someone else. When approaching me from behind, he didn’t recognize my car, so who’s to say he really saw me speeding?
Now, I don’t want to seem naive by thinking I could get away with a possibly legit speeding ticket, but for those with more experience than I, what’s your opinion on the situation? I’m in a world of financial hurt right now, and beating this ticket would be awfully nice. I'm going to submit a request for discovery and then weigh out my options. I more or less want to know what my chances are of beating/disproving this.

