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How to kick ass in traffic court, pro se (without a lawyer):
Quote:
Dear Ms. Monroe-Ball:
This letter is written to apologize for the unfortunate experience you had before the Municipal Court for Knoxville, Tennessee, in September, 2007. I was sitting as Special Judge that day, and I deeply regret any misunderstanding of the process, or resentment for any unnecessary remark that I made during the presentation of your case.
Let me begin my review of this unfortunate incident with my remarks made at my summation, after evidence had been presented in the case. I was asked by Municipal Court to rule on the merits of your case, and not comment on the presentation. That is true whether you are represented by an attorney or not. There simply was no reason for me to begin my remarks with that statement, and it added nothing to the decision that had to be made. For that remark, I am truly sorry.
While I believe that I was technically correct in ruling on the points that you made in your presentation of the case, I should have taken time to explain more clearly to you what I was doing. First, the office presented his evidence, and answered, in response to a question from me, that the calibration of the detection equipment was working properly that day. When you asked on your examination of the officer whether the equipment was in working order, I stopped you, and thought I made an adequate explanation of the reason for doing so. One a Court settles, in the mind of the Judge, that a point is made, such as this technical question concerning calibration, it is not proper for anyone to continue to address that point. I should have explained that more clearly to you.
The other points that you attempted to make, the construction of the highway and the speed limit itself, are issues that are well beyond the ability of the Municipal Court to decide. Speed limits are set by the City of Knoxville, in coordination with the State of Tennessee and, ultimately, the Federal Government where it concerns an interstate highway. Likewise, the engineering that goes into the construction of the highway is mandated by the agencies, Federal and State, that are responsible for building it.
While I made the right technical decision in ruling against you on these points, I should have made sure that you understood why I made those rulings, and given you and opportunity to respond to those rulings. I believed that I did during the presentation of your case, and my review of your brief. However, it is apparent in looking back at the incident that I should have done a better job.
Than you for this opportunity to address the hearing that was held last September. I apologize for any discourtesy that was extended to you, and for any negative impression that you had of the Municipal Court as a result of my actions on the bench. I appreciate the opportunity to make this statement to you, and hope that you will accept my apology.
Very truly yours,
John W. Routh
There you have it. He apologized for the subject violations, but not the objective ones. I never talked about the construction of the road, and he clearly could not stop me from cross examining the witness. But I am the first person I've ever known to actually get a letter of apology from a Judge. It's a moral victory.
Tona is currently campaigning for state legislature in the Dragon district at Deals Gap (motorcycle heaven or hell), and is a member of the National Motorists Association, those nice folks who reversed the 55 mph speed limit. NMA will pay you to fight your speeding ticket if you lose, and NMA will pay you up to $5,000 to fight robocop tickets. And she's a Southern girl. So what's your excuse?
How she did it:
1. Got suspended license reinstated for free: Tennessee Code forbids city courts from suspending licenses for speeding on interstate below 70 mph, especially when the case is already on appeal! Letter to city attorney threatened legal action if The Law was not complied with. (she read the state statute)
2. Filed complaint against judge with TN Court of the Judiciary. Judge reprimanded in secret hearing, forced to write letter of apology. (complaint form on court's website)
3. Won appeal in state circuit court, after city attorney forgot to enter exhibit of city ordinance. State courts are not allowed to take judicial notice of city ordinances without a certified copy entered into evidence. She made a motion to dismiss after plaintiff rested its case. CASE DISMISSED. (per my coaching since I won the same way in the same court, by reading TN Rules of Evidence)
4. Filed Bill of Costs to refund her $300 appeal bond, plus pay her legal expenses. (TN Rules of Civil Procedure)
Note that KPD sues 200,000 annual tickets in city court, in a city with only 160,000 residents, and keeps an illegal secret docket, with no accounting of that revenue as proven by state audit (courtesy of yours truly). They are currently sued in a federal class action to refund over 100,000 robocop redlight tickets that send $1-million taxdollars a year to AUSTRALIA. Of course it is felony treason for city council to vote to replace KPD, replace city court, and replace city government with a private military contractor in a foreign nation. Under US Code, the punishment for treason is death.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scissors
Huh? How does that in any way have anything whatsoever to do with this thread?
Or are you just trolling? If so, just be honest and admit it.
Not trolling, just saying that every post this guy makes is, "the man is out to get you" type of post. Guys got issues. I agree there's some screwed up shit going on in a lot of areas of the government but get it over it Deals. Not all government is bad or "out to get you" or "trying to get one over on you".
I've never NOT won in traffic court without a lawyer.
The first one is the hardest, but it gets a lot easier each time.
That's her second pro se ticket trial, and she won the first one. And she joined NMA. She was VERY excited at winning last week, and I got a phone interview with her thanking me for the winning tip. We were scheduled to do a radio interview together on a local station, but she had a campaign rally that day. So I got 50 minutes to talk about winning in traffic court. It's starting to look like we are making an impact on the local courts and police.
I use traffic court for practice in case of a real trial someday. I've got a $200,000 pro se civil trial scheduled for next month. Which is a pretty good payday without having to pay lawyer fees.
I met one local business owner who won a $300,000 jury trial in fed court, after his crooked lawyers quit on the courthouse steps on day of the trial, after he paid them $100,000. He and his kid are racers, so they're pretty sharp. His insurance company (Travelers Aetna) were caught cashing fake claims checks without telling the policy holder, with cooperation of local banks and police (codes enforcement).
Last edited by dealsgapdragon : 06-26-2008 at 02:51 AM.
So she lost but got a bullshit letter from a judge, big deal. I would rather win and have the judge be a jack off.
She did win on appeal, did get her license reinstated for free, and got a BS letter of apology from the judge.
She was trying to get the judge disbarred, so she was pissed that all she got was a BS letter. I feel sorry for the next judge who tries to make her pay a traffic ticket, since she learns fast.
She was VERY happy to win this trial on appeal.
Every person should file a complaint against every judge in traffic ticket trials.
When you start reading The Law, you start seeing how often judges, prosecutors and police break The Law. Cops, prosecutors, judges and politicians want there to be two sets of laws, one for us, and one for them (or nothing for them). Buts that's not how The Law works.
I consider all of them career criminals, until they prove to me otherwise. Stranger Danger. This makes it a LOT easier to win in court. You can bet they look at you the same way. In fact, The Law literally defines all of them (and all of US) as habitual criminals who can literally be arrested every time they drive.
Note that most "judges" in USA are NOT licensed lawyers, never passed a bar exam, never graduated law college, never graduated undergrad college, and some can't even read, according to NY Times. Yet they prosecute US for driving without a license, when they practice law without a license? Tennessee judges have been convicted of dealing crack, extortion of bribes from driving schools, and our latest one is pedophile rape and kiddie porn inside the "justice center" (judicial commissioner Dustin Hatcher only attended car stereo installation tech "school" after his GED, and billed taxslaves $40,000 for his rape settlement, pled guilty to sexual assault and is facing 5 years prison).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gatorSMASH
i wish i was knowledgable to do this, i just got a ticket by a undercover cop for driving too closely on the highway.
It's easy to fight tickets. I think everyone should. Just be respectful to the judge,prosecuter (sp?) and popo. Dress in a nice suit or shirt and tie. Advise them of the mistake you made if you did make one and ask for a deal or for them to reduce it. After court do what my father told me, "stop breaking the law dumb ass".
I don't agree with deals though. He thinks judges,cops and all are shady people breaking the law them selves....hence my comment about, "their all out to get me" mentality. I agree that there are dirty cops,judges,doctors,teachers,preachers,disabled vets, current military.....theres dirt in every type of job but not all in that job. Just because a dentist molested a patient doesn't mean I think all are scum bags. Just cause a doctor is writing false prescriptions to friends to sell as illegal narcotics doesn't mean I think all doctors are scum bags. Just because I was stopped doing 100mph in a 65 doesn't mean I think cops are dirty.....I do try to get out of the ticket but I don't think he/she's dirty. Just because I get found guilty (when I was) doesn't mean I think the judge is dirty.
Any back story on this? Or are you just going to present the aftermath?
I specifically am interested in what the judge said to this woman. If it's in your original post, I apologize, but you must admit the post is weighted down with exteraneous points, and it's hard to see your point.
Not trolling, just saying that every post this guy makes is, "the man is out to get you" type of post. Guys got issues. I agree there's some screwed up shit going on in a lot of areas of the government but get it over it Deals. Not all government is bad or "out to get you" or "trying to get one over on you".
I never understood why your type has to rag on his type when you admit there are problems with local government yet it seems like his type are one of the very few that will take a stand and do something about it. Which is as much a favor to you as it is to him.
Like hating on edison for being eccentric but still benefiting from his inventions which never would have come into being otherwise. People are different, why not respect those differences?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lockedfree
I never understood why your type has to rag on his type when you admit there are problems with local government yet it seems like his type are one of the very few that will take a stand and do something about it. Which is as much a favor to you as it is to him.
Like hating on edison for being eccentric but still benefiting from his inventions which never would have come into being otherwise. People are different, why not respect those differences?
Your lumping me with a group that doesn't do anything. I do but I also know that not everyone is a shit bag. I don't like when people are anti all government because of a few shit bags.
In his post it stated that the judge didn't let her continue to ask about the calibration because it was already anwsered but he didn't explain to her why he didn't let her continue asking. Because he didn't further explain means hes a shit bag, please. In court if something has already been asked and awnsered regarding certificates, calibration, training...then it doesn't need to be repeated.
Last edited by SuperToby : 06-18-2008 at 11:15 AM.
Traffic judge forced to write Letter of Apology
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