Since you "lost" your trial, and paid your money ($1,000s for the next 3 years), you should at least try to get your money's worth, by paying attention to WTF happened, and learning from it to prepare for your next ticket. Getting mad (motivated) is the first step to winning. Just channel that energy to productive work, not spinning your wheels in road rage. Yes, the US Supreme Court and state supreme courts agree you can tell any cop to fuck off to his face, as guaranteed free speech by the First Amendment, but it's more profitable to learn how to win in court.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lownuff
He writes me a ticket for 81 in a 55.. but says the charged speed will be 64 in a 55 so it's less than 10 over.
Then he gives me the ticket, and proceeds to tell me that if I try to fight the ticket and it goes to trial, he will bump the speed back up to 81 and i WILL get the maximum penalty.
WHAT THE FUCK? A COP, THREATENS ME WITH BLACKMAIL... "IF YOU TRY TO FIGHT IT I'LL FUCK YOU".....
Isn't there some sort of law against that???? Can he REALLY do that??
|
"Extortion by the court" is what lawyer textbooks call this situation. Every defendant who refuses to lay down and be a good slave and plead guilty to a crime will always be punished by a prosecutor and judge. A plea bargain allows defendants to pay the minimum price. Demanding a jury trial always results in prosecutors seeking a max penalty, and judges are happy to order that, if the state wins.
This is true in all traffic cases. That why it pays to read your state's
Rules of Criminal Procedure and Rules of Civil Procedure, in addition to the
vehicle statutes and constitution, plus
US Constitution. If it's a city cop in city court with a city attorney that never handle criminal arrest trials, then it's civil procedure only. They want to get nitpicky on rules, so you get to prove it's impossible for them to follow their own rules.
Extortion usually applies when criminal charges are threatened in a civil case, which is in fact what a traffic ticket is, a frivolous civil lawsuit for alleged breach of civil driver license contract. Hint: Signing your name is signing a voluntary contract. Duress voids any contract BTW. Your state's supreme court rules for lawyers will allow disbarment for any prosecutor that is accused of such extortion. That's why lawyers in civil rights cases rarely advise clients to file criminal charges against cops.
The ticket attempts to protect the cop from arrest for perjury (filing a false report), by charging you at 81 mph, then attempting to agree to a plea bargain at the lower speed. Make no mistake, you are actually charged with 81 mph, NOT the lower speed, though this opens the door to a constitutional defense of "void for vagueness", for having 2 speeds charged on the complaint.
The 81 mph would be easy to beat, by proving all the many ways radar is defective (plenty of books explain how to do that, see
People vs Ferency, 133 Mich App 526, 533-535, Michigan Court of Appeals 1984; 351 NW2d 225; Miami also had a big case for 85 mph palm trees, which suppressed radar evidence in ALL cases over 80 mph
State of Florida v. Aquilera).
To defeat radar in court, using the Essential Elements listed in Ferency, see the free video
How Any Idiot Can Beat a Radar Speeding Ticket, by Pastor Rick Strawcutter certified paralegal.
Biker lawyer Norman Fernandez also has a free ebook,
How to Beat a Speeding Ticket.
"Necessity" is always a valid defense, since the
85th Percentile Speed is the only safe speed, keeping up with the majority of traffic. Even the fed govt's traffic engineers write reports admitting that
speeding is SIX TIMES SAFER than driving a speed limit. But Necessity is an "affirmative defense", requiring a "confession" to the crime. Best tactic is to never confess to a crime. BTW, count, state and fed traffic tickets carry a max jail sentence of up to 6 months, minimum sentence 30 days. Why confess to a CRIME??? Nevermind that driving safely without crashing is now classified as a "crime".
Note that to really have a chance at winning, you must be prepared to call the judge's bluff and appeal, which usually requires a large prepayment of appeal bond, unless you can prove indigency.
Note that even if you lose in court, you never have to pay any fine or court costs if you're "indigent". In Florida, you're indigent if you own a $1-million home without a mortgage, under the state Homestead Exemption. File an Affidavit of Indigency with the court's own form, sign your court documents "in forma pauperis" (and "under protest" per
UCC 1-207 and
your state's equivalent UCC statute), and declare "tenancy in the entirety" if your state allows it (making spouses NOT liable for debts). This is called being "collection proof" and applies in all civil and criminal trials, since debtors prisons are unconstitutional.
To make a citizen's arrest on a cop for extortion or perjury, it's required to grab him and drag him to a judge (while he points a gun to your head and threatens to blow your brains out), or file an Affidavit of Probable Cause for Criminal Complaint with a judge or grand jury foreman (NOT with the cops or DA). Or include that affidavit as an exhibit in your Answer to Complaint for the speeding ticket.
Here's 2 examples that I've done, that won 2 trials and got 100 govt employees fired, including the court clerk:
Affidavit of Probable Cause for Criminal Complaint
Answer to Complaint
Buy a copy of the cop's in-car video, then use it against him at trial. The video will include his audio threat. This is also why every driver should carry a hidden tape recorder ($20 lie detector) for use during every traffic stop. If he was violating any law without his emergency lights and siren turned on, then he must be prosecuted too, or charges must be dismissed against you per Constitutional Equal Protection doctrine of 14th Amendment (that supposedly freed the slaves). That's how I won my last ticket, by refusing to be a slave, just like Rosa Parks.
Here's the cop's video that didn't show me breaking any law:
VIDEO: Cop busted with 5 crimes in 60 seconds, prosecutor phones to dismiss case
When you win, file a Bill of Costs with the court clerk, for refund of all your expenses, such as the video. Govt pays the court costs. If you hired a lawyer the govt would have to pay his bill, as sanction for malicious prosecution.
The prosecutor could also be indicted if he continued with the case by suborning perjury, just like ex Duke DA Mike Nassios, former attorney at law. Seems the 3 lacross players' family of lawyers didn't appreciate paying $3-million to get charges dismissed against innocent family members in the crazy stripper's "rape" case (ie, cheap tips from broke college students).
Traffic tickets are Big Business, and both judges and
cops get paid salaries of $200,000/year, while govt literally is forced to file bankruptcy in fed court, to avoid paying cops their salaries. Just say NO.
What's wrong with this picture?
...one pecker at a time.
Where do you get your figures? Comic pages?
Linear Mode
