Additional Tckets Filed - How late is Legal

[KLR_]

I recently faught a traffic ticket and won. The ticket was dismissed over a delay in the supporting deposition. The officer was not happy about this, and after the Judge dismissed the ticket, wrote three more for the same stop. He wrote two additional ones, plus re-wrote the origional. Is this legal? It seems like retaliation, why should I be penalized for invokeing my rights? Also, how long after the traffic stop can the officer still write addiitonal tickets? I won case, but am loseing the fight.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm not sure I understand. Are you stating that the cop wrote the tickets after you had your hearing? If so, that is ridiculous. I'd even consider suing the county or, at the very least, filing a formal complaint with the police department. Note that you will not likely be able to "sue" the cop in traffic court as part of a countersuit but will have to take it to another court. You may have to fight it or you might be able to avoid it by speaking to someone at the police department. If this cannot be handled reasonably then you may want to go for the jugular. It's definitely retaliatory if it is what I'm assuming and will very likely not stand up in court -- especially not a ticket citing you for the infraction which was dismissed. It's not lawful.

 

[KLR_]

Your assumptions are correct

Yes, at the stop, 1 ticket was issued. "Failure to Signal", I had a hearing at wich I pled innocent. A trial date was set. At trial, I moved for dismissal do to delayed supporting deposition from the officer. The judge granted the dismissal but did so without prejudice. The Officer was quite upset. Stated that he "cut me a break at the stop and yet I still had the nerve to drag him to trial". At that point he Re-Issued the origional ticket "Failure to signal", and 2 other tickets that he said he could have written at the stop but chose not to at the time. The time between the traffic stop, and the additional charges is over 3 months. In fact, right befor my trial, he called me to the hall and "Warned me" that if I didn't change my plea, he was going to do this. The sad thing about this is I asked for a trial hopeing to negotiate a plea with the ADA. I was prepared to plead guilty to a "broken signal device", pay a fine and have the matter settled there despite the late deposition. -Thanks. Kevin

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I think that the officer has given you all the info you need to make a deal with the ADA. It is absolutely retaliatory and, IMHO, abusive. If the ADA doesn't drop all the tickets you can go after the police. If it were me, I'd speak to the ADA before you get to court to discuss potential police misconduct before the matter gets out of hand. You may want to mention retaliatory tickets being issued by an officer over three months after an infraction for the same infraction. You want to be taken seriously so you should acknowledge that this is unusual circumstance but involves police misconduct. The officer is stupid for doing what he did. Keep copies of everything you have and keep a detailed record of your correspondence.