Thread: Well damn...

I was going to order some hones, but this weekend I got slapped with a BS ticket in Trinidad, Colorado. If I deserved it I wouldn't be mad, but this was some crap. My car physically can't go as fast as she said, but apparently Colorado HiPo can be jerks.

Grr, goodbye coticule, hello Las Animas County court

Here's my card!!!!!!!!

(technically its not abulance chasing, there was no accident, right?)
(if there was, how does your neck feel????)

I'm not sure if it's a North Carolina thing or not, but I know you can ask to see the speed reading. I know it doesn't make much of a difference now...

Nope, no accident- just in the wrong place at the wrong time. What I find hilarious is that I passed three other HiPo's on the interstate and I was doing 75 in a 65. I was keeping up with traffic, but c'mon. What really ticked me off later is that I was going through more damn construction in New Mexico, watching my speed and all that, and all these people kept passing me doing upwards of 60- in a no passing zone no less!

I spoke with an attorney today, and he said about all I can do is write the presiding judge a letter. Maybe if I add a PS and tell him the money was originally for hones for razor sharp razors

Maybe just letting the judge know that you use straight razors will impress him enough to give you a break (offer him a straight razor shave also) ---too bad on the ticket.

Justin

Originally Posted by jaegerhund

Maybe just letting the judge know that you use straight razors will impress him enough to give you a break (offer him a straight razor shave also) ---too bad on the ticket.

Justin

Maybe you could do this with a slightly maniacal laugh!?

What sort of speed trap was it? I don't know how it works in the states but over here if its a handheld speed gun or similar you can ask to see the calibration certificate, it can be out of date / invalid and so the ticket can get cancelled.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/7037142.stm

If you speed was recorded as being well over what the vehicle is capable of then I reckon that its a good bet the instrument wasn't calibrated/set up right.

Could be well worth checking out.

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

My car physically can't go as fast as she said, .....

This is advise I heeded after getting a ticket my car at the time was physically incapable of earning. I pleaded not guilty at the hearing and offered my list of "evidence" to the magistrate and he ended up throwing out the case on a technicality after reviewing the vhs to make sure it would comply with court standards.

Is there a race track anywhere near you that will let you run your car around a few times? If your car can't go that fast and you have yourself and one or two others floor it at a race track, record it on a camcorder inside the car, panning between the speedometer and the gas pedal some, and have your friends who tried it also come to court and testify that they tested your car themselves and it would not get up to that speed. Have one of them be a mechanic that can testify that (based on his experience) your car's compulsion system has not been altered in any way from manufacturer standards.

You can go to the initial hearing and plead not guilty and offer a list of evidence and witnesses. If the officer is not present and if they don't dismiss it right then they'll set a court date for probably 3 weeks to 3 months later so make sure you have the testing done soon with time stamps on the camcorder.

Unless the judge is a real jerk he will dismiss the case at the 2nd hearing when the officer is present, and if he doesn't you've (supposedly) got automatic grounds for appeal. Either the judge or appellate judge should dismiss the case so the patrol doesn't come under too much scrutiny. They won't want you to press for an official trial and have the officer proven on record to be a liar.

If it's worth the trouble to you I hope this helps.

Glen F

A judge let me out of one once for that very reason.

I was supposedly clocked going 47 in a 25. Up a steep hill... from the stop sign at the bottom... in a ten year old 2.1 liter diesel Ford Tempo.

When I showed the judge a picture of where it happened and told him what kind of car it was, case dismissed. I know I only got stopped because there were three other long haired teenage boys with me. I only got a ticket because the cop was peeved that all we were smoking was tobacco and we were of legal age.

(that thing went 0-60 in 4.6 minutes)
(it did get 40+ to the gallon though)

Normally I would do all that and go to court over it. As a result, my record is clean. Unfortunately that court is about 10 hours from me, so it would be waaaay cheaper just to pay it.

I would also check the calibration of the equipment, but Colorado law does not allow discovery during the court process. In other words, it could be 3 years out of calibration and it wouldn't matter.

I'm just hoping the judge believes me about how that car just can't do it. Imagine taking a 4 cylinder SUV (yeah...it's not really mine though) that hasn't been adjusted for mountain air up steep hills. Ugh, horrible.