Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake?

Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (Full Version)

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DominaSmartass -> Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/15/2007 11:50:39 PM)
This is the first time in my life I've gotten a speeding ticket, so I'm a little pissed to say the least...I probably was speeding, who knows, I was just going with the flow of traffic and there was a trap set up which I know because when I got pulled over I was waved into a parking lot where (no kidding) 10 other cars were already parked and waiting to be processed. The officer was a stand up comedian and joked about how, me being from Alabama, he'd cut me slack cause my state is supposedly one of the least intelligent. You know, all the normal jabs. But he actually wrote my ticket wrong, which I just noticed today. I drive a Ford Taurus and the make and model of my car listed on the ticket is "CHEV 4T" I have no idea what kind of car that is but I'm pretty sure it's not mine. All the other info is correct and he told me that if I pay promptly, the state of FL will give me amnesty of sorts and not tell AL that I got a ticket. But if I take it to court, is this a large enough mistake to get it off completely without paying the $200 ticket? I guess I need some advice from people with more life experience than me on this one! Thanks.

Domin8tingUrDrmz -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 12:24:01 AM)
Depends on Florida's traffic laws, but it sounds like you'd have a very good chance at getting off with nothing on your record or any fines to pay whatsoever if you show up in court. Before you do that however, I would suggest contacting an attorney for a consultation regarding Florida's laws, or perhaps look them up online yourself if you are good at interpretting them. The reason I feel you have a good chance at getting off is because my boyfriend was once in an auto accident. It was his fault. No one was injured, thankfully. He was written a ticket for making an improper turn at an intersection. He was not in an intersection when he had his accident. He was in what we in Oregon call a suicide lane and was trying to merge into traffic. If you are not familiar with what a 'suicide lane' is; it is a center lane that takes the place of a median. Essentially it allows for left turners to pull out of traffic and remain stopped until it is safe to make the left turn and prevents traffic from backing up while waiting for the left turner to make their move. When he went to court, he pointed out that the officer cited him for improper turning at an intersection, and the photos of the accident clearly indicated that he was not in an intersection but rather a suicide lane. The judge dismissed his case entirely. If the officer cites you for the incorrect law you are not guilty of the crime you were cited, therefore there is no case. Now, whether or not that same premise holds true if the officer cited the wrong vehicle involved while the actual 'crime' was cited correctly, I am not positve, but imagine it would be a valid defense. edited cuz im tired.

DominaSmartass -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 12:36:18 AM)
Thanks for the response. We have those lanes here too though I've never heard them called that but I hate them. Especially when they go both ways (sharing the same center lane) and it's like asking for a head-on collision. Anyway, I'm not sure about this, I definitely need to talk to someone who knows and I guess in the end it'll be up to the judge. The thing is that all the other info is correct, like my DL # and my License Plate. So I'm sure when push comes to shove there's no doubt that he got the right car. BUT, my logic is that if he made such a huge mistake on something so obvious (I mean come on, my car has a very noticeable "FORD" emblem and the word "Taurus" written in cursive) then how do we know he didn't make a similiar error in pulling me over to begin with. Like I said, I cannot claim to know if I was speeding either way. Most likely I wasn't going 30, I'm not going to lie, but I may not have been going 47 either. I know it's a technicality but something in me wants to fight it. On the other hand, if I lose the case then I'll be in for much worse than the $200 and no points I'm looking at now.

Domin8tingUrDrmz -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 1:11:59 AM)
Not necessarily true. If the cop doesn't show up (because he's busy doing his job enforcing law), and you plead not guilty, often the judge will dismiss the case because a citation is considered hearsay in many courts. Whether or not this is true of Florida, I do not know. I still think you have a fairly strong defense, because as you said, if he was inaccurate with something so glaringly obvious, than he could very easily have been inaccurate about the not-so-obvious. Either way, I wish you well. edited again. my eyes are playing tricks on my fingers...dammit.

farglebargle -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 3:07:47 AM)
I think, in many courts, a trivial error such as that would just be ignored, not changing the case one whit. ( i.e.: One which doesn't materially change the situation... ) ( IOW: Can they pretty much uniquely identify you and your vehicle from the information presented, disregarding the erroneous entry? ) This seems to be the case, so I don't think it's the best strategy to build a defense on. Let's see, a lawyer will cost about as much as the fine. 47 in a 30? Does the Cops Mom know what he does for a living? I don' t think SHE would approve, but that aside... That, in NY, would be classified as a "Major" speeding offense. ( 15+ ), Now, in pretrial discussions with the officer, it is sometimes the situation where they'll consider dropping it a grade ( to a "Minor" speeding offense... ) with the appropriate reduction in fines and points. While this isn't useful in your context of driving around town, on the highway, I set MY cruise control at Posted + 10MPH. I figure that any State Trooper won't bother pulling me over for a minor, when there's surely someone rolling along at +20 in a few minutes anyway... I got a ticket at a parking meter on Friday, I'm pretty damn sure it wasn't overtime, but hey, what are you going to do, go down to traffic safety, and say, "Uh, I'm pretty damn sure it wasn't overtime.", and hear, "that's nice. You going to pay that, or plead not-guilty? " If it helps, just think of it as another damn tax.

wilfulcontrol -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 3:26:20 AM)
Make/Model being wrong may or may not be enough to get it tossed, it depends on the judge. The easiest way to get out of one in my experience is to get the date of the trial pushed back. In my jurisdiction it required my boss writing a letter saying that I could not miss work for a project (which was actually true, I was out of the country), and the courts rescheduled it. Around here cops get overtime for going into court, so they pick a day off and schedule all their traffic court dates for that day (this is normally marked somewhere on your ticket) and go into court for all of them. If your case gets rescheduled the court doesn't always contact the cop to let him know, it just doesn't appear on the trial docket for the day...on the new trial date he may be working, he may not want to come in for just one cases, or he might not get the message, but if you show up and he doesn't, you win.

Level -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:26:35 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DominaSmartass This is the first time in my life I've gotten a speeding ticket, so I'm a little pissed to say the least...I probably was speeding, who knows, I was just going with the flow of traffic and there was a trap set up which I know because when I got pulled over I was waved into a parking lot where (no kidding) 10 other cars were already parked and waiting to be processed. The officer was a stand up comedian and joked about how, me being from Alabama, he'd cut me slack cause my state is supposedly one of the least intelligent. You know, all the normal jabs. But he actually wrote my ticket wrong, which I just noticed today. I drive a Ford Taurus and the make and model of my car listed on the ticket is "CHEV 4T" I have no idea what kind of car that is but I'm pretty sure it's not mine. All the other info is correct and he told me that if I pay promptly, the state of FL will give me amnesty of sorts and not tell AL that I got a ticket. But if I take it to court, is this a large enough mistake to get it off completely without paying the $200 ticket? I guess I need some advice from people with more life experience than me on this one! Thanks. It doesn't matter, it doesn't invalidate the ticket.

lighthearted -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:39:38 AM)
this is my experience; I live in CA, and it's been a long time since I had a ticket, but for what it's worth: the last time I fought a ticket, I saw tickets excused for the following: the cop put the wrong date on the ticket; the cop car had a headlight out; the cop reversed a couple of numbers in the VIN. (these were all separate incidents, mulitiple people). basically, the theme was, the officer has to get all info correct on the ticket, and expected to be perfect, or it's out. it also echoes what I was told by the disgruntled substitute teacher/officer when I took traffic school, like 20 years ago. again, just my experience.

Level -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:40:56 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: lighthearted this is my experience; I live in CA, and it's been a long time since I had a ticket, Scoff-law. [:-]

lighthearted -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:43:15 AM)
hey, I'm not saying I got out of my ticket! [>:]

Level -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:45:41 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: lighthearted hey, I'm not saying I got out of my ticket! [>:] Well, you got out of one that we know of, more or less......... right? [:D]

Owner59 -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:51:37 AM)
Good luck.... It would have to be speeding someone to the hospital or something that serious,to get out of a ticket,once it`s been written. Municipalities pay a huge amount of money to put a LEO,their cruiser and radar equipment in place.Add to that, the court`s cost to the taxpayer,etc. With all that in place,they`re not just going to let people off,scott free. They should reduce it down one notch,if you go to the prosecutor,and ask politely. (here in Jersey,if you have no points,they automatically reduce the charge down,one level)

Arpig -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:53:21 AM)
Pay the ticket and slow down in the future

lighthearted -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:56:08 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Level quote: ORIGINAL: lighthearted hey, I'm not saying I got out of my ticket! [>:] Well, you got out of one that we know of, more or less......... right? [:D] wish I could say that I had, but nope...this was all stuff that I witnessed while waiting my turn in court. the digsgruntled substitute teacher officer was actually a wealth of information as far as getting out of tickets. he told us, once the officer starts writing the ticket, he has to finish it. so basically, if he hasn't begun writing, you still have a chance to talk your way out. now THAT tactic I have used successfully (bats a tearful eyesniff)

Babybass -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:58:35 AM)
I think that if you were speeding then you should pay the ticket!! I did manage to get out of a parking fine once (completely by accident) - i came back to the car as he was writing it and i was really nice to him and said 'i will just wait until you have the ticket written and take it off you'. He kept apologising, saying that he had started writing the ticket so had to give it to me and i kept saying that it was fine - i had not paid for parking and i should not have left the car where i did etc!! I was so nice about it that in the end he ripped up the ticket, apologised for keeping me and told me to enjoy my day!!! Sometimes it pays to be nice!!!

Satyr6406 -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 6:58:57 AM)
I can't help you "get out of" a ticket but, in most states, I can teach you how to have it NOT affect your insurance rates. Peace and comfort, Michael

eyesopened -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 7:06:45 AM)
Bring in your vehicle registration and prove it's not the vehicle the officer said it was and you might beat it. The way i look at speeding tickets is... i drive over the limit every single day and i get a ticket about once every 5 years. If i take the $200 and divide by 1,825 it costs me roughly 11 cents a day to drive over the speed limit. A bargain in my opinion.

Owner59 -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 7:12:56 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Arpig Pay the ticket and slow down in the future Good advice...

Owner59 -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 7:17:21 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: lighthearted quote: ORIGINAL: Level quote: ORIGINAL: lighthearted hey, I'm not saying I got out of my ticket! [>:] Well, you got out of one that we know of, more or less......... right? [:D] wish I could say that I had, but nope...this was all stuff that I witnessed while waiting my turn in court. the digsgruntled substitute teacher officer was actually a wealth of information as far as getting out of tickets. he told us, once the officer starts writing the ticket, he has to finish it. so basically, if he hasn't begun writing, you still have a chance to talk your way out. now THAT tactic I have used successfully (bats a tearful eyesniff) Not a joke: I heard that crying ,even if you`re a man,is your best chance of getting out of a ticket. Don`t get pissy,that`ll make things worse.

Owner59 -> RE: Getting out of a ticket due to Officer's mistake? (9/16/2007 7:20:01 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Babybass I think that if you were speeding then you should pay the ticket!! I did manage to get out of a parking fine once (completely by accident) - i came back to the car as he was writing it and i was really nice to him and said 'i will just wait until you have the ticket written and take it off you'. He kept apologising, saying that he had started writing the ticket so had to give it to me and i kept saying that it was fine - i had not paid for parking and i should not have left the car where i did etc!! I was so nice about it that in the end he ripped up the ticket, apologised for keeping me and told me to enjoy my day!!! Sometimes it pays to be nice!!! nahh,you`re probably cute....

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