As I mentioned on the "State Highway Trooper" thread, I got a ticket in Plano, TX. (not on the tollway) I plan to fight it. I have been told before, the last time I got a ticket in Plano, when I asked what happens if I submit a "Not Guilty" plea in order to set a "real" court date and the Police Officer does not show up for court (i.e. does it automatically get dismissed), I was told, "the officers always show up for court because we pay them (time-and-a-half or double time...I forget) to show up & they always do." A friend suggested that this is considered "bribery" and an unfair influence to induce a testifying party (the officer) to appear in court. They suggested that a competent attorney would probably welcome taking this case to defend as it is a constitutional case. They said if I simply ask the question of increased officer compensation to another court clerk or city official, get their name, have them called to court to testify, under oath, to this fact, then the case could be dismissed on the basis of unfair bribery or whatever. Does this angle sound good or just wishful thinking?
KAFFEE I'll ask for the fourth time. You ordered-- JESSEP You want answers? KAFFEE I think I'm entitled to them. JESSEP You want answers?! KAFFEE I want the truth. JESSEP You can't handle the truth! And nobody moves. JESSEP (continuing) Son, we live in a world that has roads. And those roads have to be patrolled by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? The Minutemen? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for George and you curse the Troopers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: That George's ticket, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. (beat) You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that road. You need me there (boasting) We use words like license, registration, ticket... we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. (beat) I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I'd prefer you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a radar gun and eat a donut. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to. KAFFEE (quietly) Did you get time and a half? JESSEP (beat) I do the job taxpayers pay me to do. KAFFEE Did you get time and a half?! JESSEP (pause) You're ******* right I did. Silence. From everyone. RANDOLPH, ROSS, the Bailiff, they're all frozen. JO and SAM are likewise. JESSEP seems strangely, quietly relieved. KAFFEE simply takes control of the room now. KAFFEE Please the court, I suggest the jury be dismissed so that we can move to an immediate Article 39a Session. The witness has rights. Silence. RANDOLPH looks to ROSS. RANDOLPH Lt. Ross? ROSS is frozen. He doesn't know what to do. KAFFEE (as a friend) Jack. ROSS looks at KAFFEE, then JESSEP, then nods his head "yes" to RANDOLPH. RANDOLPH The Bailiff will take the jury to an ante-room where you'll wait until further instruction. The Bailiff begins leading the JURORS out of the room. JESSEP What the hell's going on?
Tom, If you got something to say, don't beat around the bush in a smart-a** way; just say it. Yes, I got a ticket. Who has not. My problem is that, as I do know when I have done my fair share of getting on it a bit, this really is a case where I was not acting like a wild banshee on the road. There is a diference between acting reckless & simply safely moving about the road on the way to your destination....even if it is a couple miles over the posted limit (which REALLY is posted WAY too low for this area of road). I am not even going to go there about wheather the cops should be chasing pedophiles, crack addicts, & assorted politicians, I just feel that this is too unfair. I agree that I would rather the cops on the road & on patrol than not, I just feel that the over zealous ones should not get away hitting up citizens sliding a couple mile over for everything in their wallet on a whim or to meet their quota. Law enforcement, nowadays, really is not about protecting the public, it is about continuing a "for-profit" business. This is what I have a problem with.....
I don't think your defense would hold. Anytime in court would be considered overtime pay anyways in most cases. The court would cause him to go over his 40 hours. Some counties don't pay the officers for time spent. A lot of the time, the cops won't show because of it usually somehow ending up being on their day off and they don't want to sit in court all day, or......The officer can't remember enough about the event to be effective. That's what my friends have told me that work for some local departments, as well as some of my academy instructors.
Out of the 4 times I have gone to court about a ticket the officer have NOT shown up, out of 6 times my wife has gone to court about a ticket the officer did NOT show up
Chad, Thank you for a reasonable answer with a bit of knowlegde behind it. I'm not just trying to get out of a ticket, just get a fair shake in court....(well yes, I would like to get off....who wouldn't) but I feel that Plano, TX slants things too much in their favor in the interest of $$$ for the city coffers. My original post simply asks, why (or why not) is my friend's legal argument valid (or not)? I will set my day in court (pray the officer doesn't show) & take what they spin at me from there.
If its a traffic cop he will be there. They schedule all their stuff together but if he doesnt show then you are set.
I got a ticket in Plano. I proved to the court, beyond a shadow of a doubt with a computer print-out, that the cop was lying. Result: the judge said "I don't care. Pay the fine." Some years earlier, I got a ticket while sitting at a railroad crossing, waiting for the train going by. I got a jury trial and told them that another car had arrived and turned right and left. The cop arrived a couple of minutes later and thought I was the car he was chasing. The jury found me "Not Guilty." Not innocent, mind you (I really was an innocent bystander). So, go to court and lose - because all Plano is interested in is the money. If you want to fight it, either get a lawyer (and pay) or try a jury. After all, when you question the potential jurors, you can ask have you ever received a ticket? How do you feel about that? You might get a jury who would find you "Not Guilty." Good luck. I hope you win your case.
If you are going just to see if he shows up, then I guess you can give it a try. But if he does, aren't you out court costs? If you plan on making any argument, you probably need a lawyer. The judge or anyone else is not there to help you so unless you are completely aware of the process and know all the applicable law, you are essentially screwed.
A lawyer? Yes, I have thought of that, but I'm a bit gun shy. The last ticket lawyers that I used: One simply showed up, said they represent me, plea bargained the exact same deal that I could have on my own and collected their fee from me....in addition the the fines that I had to pay. The other simply said, "I was there (an out-of-state case), we lost, here is your fine, & here is my bill." Dipsh*t.
I guess this depends on: A you are trying to make a point B you just want this over with If A then get an attorney make a big deal about it. Contact the press about it, etc. If B pay the fine and move on. Obviously the "system" assumes you will pick B and makes it difficult to buck the system.
Have you taken defense driving in the last year? If yes then get yourself an attorney. If no take defensiive driving pay the fine and go on with life. I was there when Marci showed the officer way not telling the truth. The fact is that the city of Plano just does not care.
Can't do the defensive driving thinjg at this time. You are right, Plano does not give a rat's a** about justice or the law....only making money. Once again, justice is entirely a FOR PROFIT business. If I opened fire in a public place & killed anyone, AND if I have enough money, THEN I can get an innocent verdict. Sad but true.
Wasn't beating around the bush in a smartass way. Based on your original premise, I paraphrased the showdown scene from For A Few Good Men, which gives your attorney a blueprint and you the fictional win. It cuts every bit of dialogue that could ever be exhanged between mankind since the fanciful defense scenario was presented to it's very core - which is, to use in the court of law itself. If you would like result down whittled down to 1 word, I'll... Guilty.
I dont know if it was smarta.. or not, but that was funny as hell. You cannot beat humor in this trying time.
Deferred adjudication. Pay the administrative fee and if you do not receive another ticket for six months it disappears off your record. I did it in Arlington about six years ago and the ticket never showed up. I will get to try it again soon. I received a ticket on 820 in Fort Worth last night by a Texas Highway Patrol trooper in an SUV. I had just driven back from Big Spring, out in west Texas, and had kept the cruise set on 72 mph for the entire trip (very boring). I was going over the Lake Worth bridge when the lights came on behind me. This trooper asked if there was an emergency because of the speed I was driving, 80mph in a 60. I told him I had not seen the reduction from 65 to 60 so I would have to admit I was driving faster than the posted limit but I questioned the 80 mph, since I had been running at 72 mph on cruise for 268 miles. He told me he had been following me since White Settlement Rd.,(about three miles) and wanted to know if I was calling him a liar. Of course I told him I was not calling him a liar, I was just concerned about being stopped for 80 mph when my cruise was set at 72. He told me I should take the car in and have the speedometer calibrated...... Hmmm, I wonder when the last time his SUV had its speedo calibrated, since he did not use radar but paced me? Will, this guy stopped me out on your end of town. Do you know him? Hispanic male about 40 years old, receding hairline, good sized Dunlop about the belt line, about 5'9" and a gnarly attitude driving an SUV patrol vehicle........... Oh, and did I mention that my son was with me, about 10pm last night, and had had to use his inhaler about six times in the four hour trip from west Texas. He has asthma and his nebulizer was on the dresser at the house. I told the officer we were hurrying just a little to get there since my son was wheezing audibly and having some difficulty getting good breaths. After the officer wrote the ticket and detained me for about ten minutes he had the nerve to say, "If you had not been speeding and forced me to stop you, you would be home by now, getting that breathing treatment. I suggest you slow down, drive more carefully and be safe. Have a nice evening, sir". Grrrr, the more I think about it the more I may want a jury myself.......
Sorry Tom. I wasn't trying to get testy, I just could not place the names, or the dialog, of your post as from being in any movie I ever saw. I saw "A Few Good Men" a looooooong time ago. Don't remember much of it. Hell, I know that I'm guilty as far as the city of Plano's hungry coffers are concerned, I am simply trying to avoid paying so many of my hard earned dollars to that pack of money crazed bastards. Did I actually commit a crime? No, I did not. Was I maybe 3-4 miles over the limit? Sure. Should that give them the right to rape my wallet? HELL NO! James, I hear you on the supposed 80 mph. It is easy for the cop to make up some number out of thin air, then blame it on "well, maybe your spedometer is out of adjustment. Look into getting it repaired". The judge will simply say that it is your responsibilty to keep your car's equipment in proper tuned working order. More BS. Who checks & adjusts this stuff? I think that any incorrection in the speedo is there from the cars maker. The trooper simply figures that you will pay the fine & he will get a cookie or gold star for being a good little (or fat in his case) cop. I had a Dallas cop pull me over in my 308 one night on NW Hwy near White Rock Lake while heading East bound from Central. Cop told me he clocked me doing 85 in a 45 while driving past the Police Substation. What kind of idiot does he think I am to do 85 in front of the Cop-Shop? Of course, he said that he was only going to write me up for 65 in a 45 so that it would allow me to take Defensive Driving to avaoid the fine. "That's mighty nice of you Mr. Po-lice officer trying to look after my poor needs", I thought to myself. I think he just wanted to scope out the car. He could have made up some BS about a license plate light being out or some crap instead of FABRICATING a story about speeding & then offering to cut me so much slack. This has ONLY taught me that I NEED to get a Valentine One......unless I fell the incredible urge to continue donating my money to the cops & city.
Yes, you did. Go get a copy of the Texas Penal Code. You WERE over the speed limit. Bottom line. You broke the law. What are you crying about? If you "barely shove" someone, are you going to claim that you did not break the law because the shove was weak? You shoved them. Bottom line. It's assault. End of story. You seem to have more stories about getting pulled over than a high school kid. I don't think these are by accident. You NEED to learn to do the speed limit.
This thread totally turned around....lol....The advice was given, best of luck on that. As for a person buying the Valentine 1, that's great if the officer left his radar on....But he could have it on standby that the Valentine won't pickup until he activates it. If it was a true police vehilce...the speedometer would say "calibrated" on it. If he can articulate that he followed you for 3 miles with his calibrated vehicle, then you'd be screwed if he's certified in radar. That's a part of the course, at least it was for me. Best of luck with it though. Sucks that he had to be rude to you in the end about the breathing treatment thing.
You really need to know 308geo. I have known him for a number of years and if there was ever a person who has worse luck than him, I do not know him. George has had his 308 repaired a number of times because of happenings that were totally out of his control. Most times the insurance company paid off well but having it happen in the first place was a real bummer. If he says he was doing 45 in front of the sub station, he was probably doing more like 40. 308geo always tended to stretch the mph just a little on the top when telling a story.......;>) George, I would advise against the V1. Someone would probably just break into the car and take it........... George,I did not know this was your thread until I looked at your response to me and looked at the username. Love the PM's you send. Really liked the one you sent yesterday about "Mens Rules". I am afraid to let my wife see that one.......
I agree with what you are saying except with do the speed limit and not get a V1. We are talking about a Ferrari not a Yugo. Get the V1 and just pay attanetion to it.
Yes but more than likely he is not just waiting for your car so the V1 will pick it up before you get there. If he is pacing you then sure he can get you, however that whay god made rear view mirrors.
