Citizens Warrant for Reckless Driving

[Orako]

I just recently received a summons to court for reckles driving and speeding. I was not stopped by a policeman but summoned by a private citizen. He claims I was driving recklesly and speeding in inclimant weather and that I passed him on a two lane road.

I am not completely sure that it was me driving at the time because both my wife and I drive both of our cars a van and a truck. It was the tag number of the truck that was identified which is what I normally drive.

I know my wife does not drive the way it was written in the report. The sheriff was nice enough to let me read it. And if it was me I may have passed him on a double line if I thought he was going to slow but I did not think I was driving recklessly and driving the way he made it seem. People get angry smetimes when you pass them like that on the two lane road. Would passing him on the double line constitute reckless driving?

Secondly, I am not all the way sure that it was me driving because during the time that he claimed the incident happened, I am usually in class an hour and half away. He claimed the incident happened around 6:10 pm on wed Dec 13. I would have driven to work that day and then to school, my class is from 4:30 to 7:10pm and this day is significant because it was the day of my finals which I know I would not have missed and I believe I drove our van on that day, not sure totally.

On a wreckles driving charge and speeding dont they have to link the charge to the driver and not just the owner of the vehicle? Our van and the truck our in my name.

I was thinking about bringing in my School ID card and my class schedule printed from the the university site this form has the date, day and time of
my class. Would this give reasonable doubt that I may not have been the driver?

I also have a decent driving record. I think I have one speeding ticket from 2 years ago.

I go into court for this soon I could use some advice.

 

[seniorjudge]

Standard answer

Here are some hints on appearing in court:

Dress professionally in clean clothes.

Do not wear message shirts.

Don't chew gum, smoke, or eat. (Smokers...pot or tobacco...literally stink. Remember that before you head for court.)

Bathe and wash your hair.

Do not bring small children or your friends.

Go to court beforehand some day before you actually have to go to watch how things go.

Speak politely and deferentially. If you argue or dispute something, do it professionally and without emotion.

Ask the court clerk who you talk to about a diversion (meaning you want to plead to a different, lesser charge), if applicable in your situation. Ask about traffic school and that the ticket not go on your record, if applicable. Ask also about getting a hardship driving permit, if applicable. Ask about drug court, if applicable.

From marbol:

"Judge...

You forgot the one thing that I've seen that seems to frizz up most judges these days:

If you have a cell phone, make DAMN SURE that it doesn't make ANY noise in the courtroom. This means when you are talking to the judge AND when you are simply sitting in the court room.

If you have a 'vibrate' position on your cell phone, MAKE sure the judge DOESN'T EVEN HEAR IT VIBRATE!

Turn it off or put it in silent mode where it flashes a LED if it rings. AND DON'T even DREAM about answering it if it rings."

(Better yet, don't carry your cell phone into the courtroom.)"


Here are six stories that criminal court judges hear the most (and I suggest you do not use them or variations of them):

1. I've been saved! (This is not religion specific; folks from all kinds of religious backgrounds use this one.)

2. My girlfriend/mother/sister/daughter/wife/ex-wife/niece/grandma/grand-daughter is pregnant/sick/dying/dead/crippled/crazy and needs my help.

3. I've got a job/military posting in [name a place five hundred miles away].

4. This is the first time I ever did this. (This conflicts with number 5 below, but that hasn't stopped some defendants from using both.)

5. You've got the wrong guy. (A variation of this one is the phantom defendant story: "It wasn't me driving, it was a hitchhiker I picked up. He wrecked the car, drug me behind the wheel then took off." Or, another variation: "I was forced into it by a bad guy!")

6. I was influenced by a bad crowd.

http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?p=854687#post854687

Public defender's advice

http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/70300494.html


Other people may give you other advice; stand by.

 

[Orako]

Citizens warrant for reckless driving and speeding

A summons received because of an upset citizen I may have passed on a two lane road. Not ticketed by a police officer. I have to go to court to refute the citizen not a police officer. The first post explains more in detail.

My questions:

Would passing on a double line 2 way lane constitute reckless driving?

Does a reckless driving and Speeding charge need to be linked to a driver and not just the owner?

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: Would passing on a double line 2 way lane constitute reckless driving?

A: Yes.




Q: Does a reckless driving and Speeding charge need to be linked to a driver and not just the owner?

A: Yes.

 

[Orako]

In this case it could have been my wife or me I dont think this was me for this reason. I say I think because I know I have passed people on this road before.

I have a college class during this time 1hr 1/2 away from the street my truck was seen and it was a significant day because it was the day of my finals. I know I was in class so I cant see how I was the one who was driving at that time where my truck was seen on top of that I drove the van on that day I believe not 100% sure but I remember the van had more gas that morning and I forgot to grab my parking pass out of the truck.

I have my school ID and my official class registration I can print from the university web site it has the day and time of my class.

Would this be enough to show reasonable doubt that I might not have been the driver although I am the owner?

Could the citizen go after my wife if it was her?

If so I rather just take the hit.

What proof does the citizen need to have to convict me of reckless driving and speeding?

 

[seniorjudge]

I suggest you have a trial.

Then the government will have to prove it was you.

 

[lwpat]

You can get a copy of the report from the police department, it is public information. See if the driver was identified in any way. Do you sign in for class? Usually the registrar can print this out for you. The person who made the complaint will have to show up for trial but not necessarily for your first court date, depends on the particular court. The clerk can fill you in.

Reckless driving is a serious violation. Unless they drop the charges it will be in your best interest to retain an attorney. This can hurt your chances of employment at a lot of places.

Is the person who filed the complaint local? If not they are unlikely to show.

 

[white_lightning]

Hi folks, I'm new here. I happened to see your thread and learned something recently that may help. I was driving to work when a pick-up pulling a trailer cut me off. Well that annoyed me enough but then he hit a bump and dropped a bunch of large gravel off of the trailer which sprayed my showroom condition car. I don't have a cell phone, I followed him, even tried to flag down a worthless sherriff on the way (who ignored me), spoke to the other driver who said "I didn't see nothing". I called highway patrol. Long story short trooper came out looked at damage to my car, filed report, contacted other driver who denied everything, nothing NC trooper could do since he didn't see it happen. Trooper said if there would have been another driver witness then he could have written a ticket. Complaints from other drivers are worthless unless there is another impartial witness.

DENY EVERYTHING AND GO OUT AND HAVE A GREAT DAY! THAT'S THE NORTH CAROLINA WAY!:yes:

 

[volvoman]

I was going to say. I would counsult legal advise. This looks like a he said she said case. I would not worry that much about it because the burden of proof would be on the other person NOT u. They could have written the tag number down wrong. I would defiantly ask for a copy of the police report. I know this is a legal advise form but I have to give you props for passing the person, some people need to learn how to get out of the way!

 

[PaddikJ]

Citizens' Warrants - Bad Idea

This thread is rather old, but since it parallels my recent case I'll start here.

Was driving home on a rural but busy highway; typical Sunday driving conditions - I passed a few RVs & trucks, and got passed by a few sedans (we were in a van). All of a sudden, there's a county patrol car behind me w/ lights flashing. I take the next pullout & am informed that someone has accused me of careless driving - says I cut in too quick while passing & followed too close before that. The officer issues a ticket/summons.

I'm shocked: Several years before, someone pulled out directly in front of me from a service yard at the entrance to a tunnel on a busy interstate; if there hadn't been a lucky break in the left lane traffic, I'd have creamed them for sure - in the tunnel. I got make & license number & called the police once out of the tunnel. Unlike the person who accused me & got a visit from an obliging officer, I had to drive to a police station to fill out a report, and the desk officer apologetically informed me that since there were no other witnesses, there wasn't much he could do. I told him I understood - not in a million years would I expect that they'd issue a summons based just on my say-so. I just thought if they saw the vehicle they might stop it & inform the driver about what she almost caused.

So I'm a little irritated that my choices are to pay the rather stiff fine & take 2 points on my license, or to make a 180 mile round trip, but I choose the latter & appear in court this morning, only to find that it's only an arraignment, and I still have another court date (this, after pleading not guilty). But I did ask the Judge to dismiss the charge: Since it rested soley on the uncorroborated accusation of one individual - no witnesses, no one else complained about my driving - I naively thought that that put it well within Reasonable Doubt, if not frivolous. The Judge seemed a little amused, and informed me that the courts regard an unsupported accusation as sufficient reason to hold a trial (I resisted the urge to ask the Judge if he would feel that way if I hung around until quitting time, and then issued a Citizen's Complaint if he failed to come to a complete stop before exiting the courthouse parking lot).

Am I the only one that thinks this is nuts? That anyone who gets pissed at you on the road, for any reason, can swear out a complaint & have you dragged into court? Would I be foolish to tell the Judge at my next appearance that my position has not changed - that it's a he said/he said situation, and that, de-facto, there's reasonable doubt? I thought this was a foundational legal concept.

Lastly (really!): I just learned that my accuser is from out of state, so there's a good chance he won't show. In that case, should the case be dismissed? I do have the right to confront my accuser, right?

Thanks much,

PJ

 

[hiwastar]

I am not a lawyer.

My understanding and experience in traffic court defending myself and witnessing other people's trials while waiting for my turn is if there is no witness for the prosecution (the person who accused you of reckless driving) then you will necessarily be found not guilty. However, you would still have to go to court to find out if he/she did not show up. Assuming he/she did (which is highly unlikely) they would still have to prove that you were driving recklessly and that, I would think, would be rather difficult without they themselves having a witness, professional training etc etc. I would think even if they did show up you could poke so many holes in their story it would be laughable. The only way I could see you getting found guilty is if the officer sided with the complainant and testified that he saw you driving in a reckless manner prior to stopping you to tell you someone had complained.