I was pulled over a few weeks ago for passing someone in a no passing zone. We were proceeding east bound on Glovers Lane. The car in front of me signaled to pull into the driveway on the right, and I passed him. The cop pulled me over for crossing a double yellow line. The officer was a punk, and, I think it was a silly charge because I was driving safely the whole time. So, I decided to fight it in court. 10 days after the alleged infraction took place I met with the DA and he said I could jurisprudence in abeyance which they meant I could pay the ticket, plus pay another $20 for court costs. The ticket would not go on my record if I avoided trouble for the next 12 months. That's the best they could do when I did nothing wrong? So I rejected the offer and set up a court date with the judge.
3/20/2012 I arrived at the court. The officer was talking it up with his other officer buddies. The DA called me out of the court room to the conference room. He read me the charge. Then he said "Are you sure you want to go to court. What is your defense? I told him that "I have not had a traffic ticket in the last 20 years, and I am a safe driver, and I think you need to drop the charges." He just looked at me, leaned back in his chair and said " This is not about you being a safe driver but is about you crossing the double yellow lines" I was thinking yes, I know that, you want me to outline my defense for you before we even go in? I said I wanted to challenge the ticket.
So, we went into the court room. The DA was chatting it up with the officer that was going to testify against me, and really was not paying attention. But hey, this is only traffic court after all. The judge went through the procedure for my benefit. The DA then got up and read the charges against me. Then it was my turn. I repeated myself and told them what a safe driver I was. Then the officer took the stand. The DA started quickly and confidently asking questions to the officer like are you ___certified? how long have you been an officer? All the questions to establish credibility to the officer. So, then the officer drew a picture on the whiteboard on what happend. Surprising to me, the officer told the truth. I had a whole page of questions prepared and I was going to play the "gotcha" game. Since he was telling the truth I only asked him one question "Do you know the precise address of the driveway the car was pulling into?" "550 West" he said. "Thank you very much officer, that is all"
So then I went to present my side. I told the judge "My ticket states the alleged infraction took place on 500 West. The officer just testified with such confidence that it was on 550 West. I have proof that there are not double yellow lines anywhere near that address. I would like to present these pictures where the incident took place into evidence." This blindsided the DA and the police officer. All the sudden they had a worried look on their faces and were huddled together talking franticly.
So the DA objected to the evidence. Judge - " on what basis"
DA went on and on and on how I doctored the pictures (in a very nice way), and how the pictures don't really show anything. The judge denied his motion. So then the DA cross examined me about the pictures. Asked me several dumb questions such as " Were these pictures taken at the place the officer stopped you?" Of course not, they were taken at the place of the infraction. It was obvious this know-it-all was not prepared and was caught off gaurd. Then I was excused. The DA was given time to refute the evidence. He went on about how the pictures are bad. Then he stopped and then started a whole new line of defense by saying the police officer just got the address wrong. So he called the cop back up to the stand, and they re-did his testimony. The cop diagrammed a whole new picture about where the incident took place. This new testimony took about seven minutes. Then the judge asked me if i would like to cross examine the witness. I was getting worried. That the judge would allow them to do a "redo" on the testamony illistrates what an uphill battle the little guy has in court. I know It is common for this court to plea bargain down a charge but they never dismiss tickets. I was fighting an uphill battle. So I cross examined the officer but felt like I needed to get my point across becasue the DA is doing all of the talking. So I confrontationally said " 5 minutes after the police officer pulled me over he wrote the location of the infraction on the ticket. And today I asked him if he knew "precisely" where the address was and he said '550 West'. You can't change it now that I have proof that there are no double yellow lines." The judge sternly told me I out of line and asked if I had any questions for the officer. I said no. Then it was my turn and I said a couple of things and went back to my seat. The judge said he would take a 15 minute recess and then would give his decision. During the break the DA decided he was going to look this up on google so he left. I already had a google print out but elected not to give it to them because I thought it would be to my advantage (which it was-- The DA waisted five minutes expounding on how the pictures were bad, and crossed examined me with several questions about the pictures) The police officer was still there so I was talking to him about San Diego and Tampa. I wanted to make sure he knew I was a nice guy and was not out to get him. I don't want him camping out at my house waiting to bust Wendy or myself. I asked the police office if it was normal for a traffic ticket hearing to last 50 minutes and he said "no" I then asked him how long the judge usually takes for recess. The officer said "I don't know, I have never seen him take a recess over a traffic ticket"
Then the DA came in, consulted with the police officer, and basically said " you are right we are going to dismiss the charges" So he went to the chambers and told the judge they were not going to press charges. This ticked me off because now the DA can still say he has a perfect, or near perfect judgement record.
Oh well, we know who really won that one!
My Consultants taking a break.
