Made a few changes to the side bar. Some new additions you may have noticed are the Quick Links, Favorite Links, and Guides. I put up a new guide for beating a traffic ticket here.
The trial by written declaration is a great way to fight a ticket. When officers receive the form, usually during roll call, they either hold on to it, to do it later, and forget; or a lot of times, they tend to misplace the form. So essentially, you win the case, if the form is never submitted.
To also clarify, for cops in LA, for the time being, we don't get paid overtime anymore to go to court. But there are disciplinary actions and consequences put in place, if we don't show up. The only reasons why an officer won't show up to court, is if he/she is in criminal court at the same time, sick, or on vacation.
Also the California Evidence Code 1237 actually allows officers to use the traffic ticket, to be used as evidence, if an officer has insufficient present recollection to enable him to testify fully and accurately.
I actually was able to win a case due to the officer needing extensions due to vacations and/or court cases. The officer wrote the ticket in March 2008 and I didn't see the inside of the courtroom until February 2009 due to the numerous extensions. I was all too happy to beat the ticket, I felt I wasn't in the wrong and felt I was being profiled due to the neighborhood I lived in at the time ... but that's a different story for a different time.
The trial by written declaration is a great way to fight a ticket. When officers receive the form, usually during roll call, they either hold on to it, to do it later, and forget; or a lot of times, they tend to misplace the form. So essentially, you win the case, if the form is never submitted.
ReplyDeleteTo also clarify, for cops in LA, for the time being, we don't get paid overtime anymore to go to court. But there are disciplinary actions and consequences put in place, if we don't show up. The only reasons why an officer won't show up to court, is if he/she is in criminal court at the same time, sick, or on vacation.
Also the California Evidence Code 1237 actually allows officers to use the traffic ticket, to be used as evidence, if an officer has insufficient present recollection to enable him to testify fully and accurately.
Just my 2 cents
Thank you LA Cop. I forgot that officers can in fact use the ticket during the hearing and cross examination.
ReplyDeleteGood tip regarding everything else!
I actually was able to win a case due to the officer needing extensions due to vacations and/or court cases. The officer wrote the ticket in March 2008 and I didn't see the inside of the courtroom until February 2009 due to the numerous extensions. I was all too happy to beat the ticket, I felt I wasn't in the wrong and felt I was being profiled due to the neighborhood I lived in at the time ... but that's a different story for a different time.
ReplyDelete