My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: Washington
I recently received a ticket for doing 45 in a 40 on a south King county road in Washington. I was on my motorcycle with a couple of cars behind me when I saw the motorcycle officer about ½ mile ahead (long straight stretch). I waved as I passed by (as most motorcycles do) and he immediately hit the lights and pulled me over. The officer had to delay getting off his bike while the two cars passed. When he came up I was informed that he had me pegged at 55 in the 40. I told him that I was doing the limit and he offered that these motorcycle speedos are typically off and that his reads 40 when he is doing 47. He said he would give me a break and write it for 45 in the 40.
I made the discovery request and asked for the officers statement, officer’s log, maintenance and calibration records for the radar unit and the tuning forks, any training and certification records, etc. I only received the officers statement and the certification for the radar detector and tuning fork (all one certification from Day Wireless Systems in Everett WA).
I had a couple of questions on the right way to attack this one:
1. The officer’s statement lists the reading of 55 yet the ticket is for 40. Since the two reflect different numbers, can I get the statement excluded since I am cited for 40 yet the statement lists 55? Or will the judge simply look and determine that the officer was trying to give me a break and blow that one off?
2. The officer’s preprinted form states “The above listed radar unit was checked both internally and externally. The above listed tuning fork was used for the external check. This was done before the violation contact and the radar was found to be working properly. I am a Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission trained and qualified Radar and Lidar operator.” Since it does not state that the testing was done immediately before and immediately after, can I get the officer’s statement tossed? Also, it simply states “before” and I have no indication if this was 2 seconds, or 2 months before. Will either approach work?
3. In the officers statement, it does not list how far away I was when he picked me up on Radar. I have seen threads where this is a concern. Can I suppress for no distance on the Radar being listed?
4. The officer’s statement consistently uses the word “I” for much of his statement (e.g., “I aimed” or “I observed”, etc.). However, as shown on item 2 above, we simply know that the Radar unit was checked but it does not say it was by the officer. Can I get this tossed for that?
5. I did not receive the officers training records, ticket log, maintenance records for either the tuning forks or the radar unit. Is this worth pursuing? Where would I get them? Is there an angle to work here?
6. If all else fails, will I have much luck with the “it was likely one of the two cars (bigger objects) that were coming up behind me rather than that little old motorcycle that I was riding that showed up on his radar?
7. What other suggestions do you have?
I look forward to your response.




