Got screwed by a park ranger.

[mightymoose]

At your court appearance you can likely get the citation reduced to a level that permits traffic school.... Although it seems to me traffic school isn't usually an option for these federal citations. That might just be a local issue in my area though.
Anyway, you are preparing to put a lot of time, effort, and money into something that will be handled in less than 5 minutes when the court date finally comes.

 

[Number6]

Of course I am. I'm not risking anything bad happening. My last ticket which oddly enough was in the same area (literally got pulled at the same spot I stopped last night) doing 12 over to which I admitted and signed without any lip.

Not going to look good having two in this close of proximity. It's lawyer time or possibly lose my license and face jail time on top of hefty fines. Before these two incidents I've never had a speeding ticket. Minor moving violation, last one was 2007, no accidents since 2010.

I have two lawyers who will contact me tomorrow, one is certified for federal court. The other had an online answering/chat service and will see if the lawyer I want is certified and see if she will consult with me.

All the browsing I've done today doesn't make much sense of this. All the posts I've read about falsifying speed on tickets always say a 5-10mph over. His guy slapped me with BS 31 over the limit, In Va 20 over is wreckless. After calming down from my spat earlier I doubt my Aunt had anything to do with it, I just hope I don't burn through all the funds I have. 11k atm between bank balance and available credit.

 

[Highwayman]

I'll also make sure we know if the park service in this area uses radar or lydar. Lydar is known for showing readings well over the actual speed.

It's LIDAR. And speaking of BS that's some right there. LIDAR is extremely accurate. More so than radar is.

Maybe I missed something, but I didn't see you blaming your aunt earlier. Besides, how could you blame your aunt for your speeding ticket?

 

[adjusterjack]

My last ticket which oddly enough was in the same area (literally got pulled at the same spot I stopped last night) doing 12 over to which I admitted and signed without any lip.

Not going to look good having two in this close of proximity.

Interesting. The thread got to be 22 posts long and you finally admit to being a repeat offender within a short period of time. One would that you'd have learned a lesson after the first ticket in that area and set your cruise control to the speed limit and kept it there.

 

[Number6]

I was extremely paranoid given my missing paperwork and my aunts smug attitude, especially after the BS hospitalization I had to endure.

And I am no repeat offender. Typical male driver. Got my License in 2007 at age 19, had a couple accidents, a moving violation all before age 25 and my latest ticket was my first speeding ticket.

Either way I'll be expected an amended ticket or possible reduction in charge. Just looked it over thoroughly, he cited me for excessive speed despite the "proper" charge being wreckless driving and cited the wrong subsection of the code.

As far as my aunt goes, She used her "connections" in the local police to have information pertaining to the location of a family member whom was institutionalized and hadn't been heard from in over 10 years.

Going to have calls from about 4 lawyers tomorrow so we'll see what goes on.

 

[Number6]

This is what he cited me for which makes no sense, it lists the different speeds of the national park service. Nothing to do with excessive speed or wreckless/unsafe operation. It only goes to section D but he listed it as Section M.

36 CFR 4.21 - Speed limits.

 

[ElleMD]

Because the statute you are looking at is only to establish what the speed limits should be set at, not the penalties for violating them. If you regularly drive the BRP/GWP, you should know they are very strict in enforcing the speed limit. Want to cruise above the limit, take 81/495. You didn't specify which parkway but the same rules apply.

Honestly, you are making a mountain out of a molehill. Hire a lawyer if you like, but you are going to pay way more in legal fees than the fine. You aren't going before SCOTUS, and there aren't going to be any Perry Mason moments. Your case will probably only be in front of the judge for 5 minutes, before and after 30 other cases that are exactly the same. Ranger says X, claimant gives excuse or claims the ticket is bogus, judge rules and move to the next case. Lather, rinse, repeat. The Ranger really doesn't care much one way or the other as for them, it is just a regular Tuesday. That Ranger has written thousands of tickets before, probably doesn't remember you personally, and hasn't given your ticket 30 seconds of thought since it happened. Just a little perspective. There is a reason the "Law and Order" franchise has never bothered with "Law and Order: Traffic".

 

[Number6]

Yes but the lawyer can work with the prosecutor to negotiate a lesser charge or have it thrown out before the court date even arrives.

I'm still shopping around atm, first lawyer wants 250 for a consultation and I know a few do them for free in person or over the phone.

 

[zddoodah]

Your posts are full of bad assumptions, generalizations and speculation.

I'll be able to get it throw out. I got pulled around 11:30 on 11/11/17, the Ticket is listed as either 12:30am or 2:30am on 11/11/17. Most likely done purposely to keep me from getting the correct camera footage.

I don't know if your assumption about the officer's motivation has any basis in reality, but the notion that you could get the ticket "throw [sic] out" for this reason is just silly.

Is it possible if I win my case to pursue a case against the officer or park service to reimburse my legal fees?

You can "pursue" anything you like, but you won't be successful doing this.

I'll spare no expense to fight this, I suspect my family may be behind it.

You think your family has something to do with you getting a speeding ticket?

I don't disagree that it's worthwhile to fight a 30+ mph over the speed limit ticket when you were, in fact, only five or so mph over the speed limit. However, doing anything beyond getting this reduced to the appropriate amount isn't likely warranted.

 

[Number6]

It isn't all that silly. My friend who was a witness works construction. He spoke with the state trooper that parks near them to enforce the work zone speed limit. He encouraged me to fight it and said a good enough attorney can have it dismissed for improper code.

 

[ElleMD]

By all means, if a construction worker going on the off hand advice of a police officer not involved in the situation at all says it is true, in a different jurisdiction, for a different offense, it must be true.

 

[Number6]

State Trooper vs Park Ranger, not much of a difference other than state vs federal. As stated by a few in the thread when it comes to traffic violations there isn't a huge change in procedure in FvsS, and there's more thant enought between fake info on the ticket, witness statement and the conduct of the officers.

The dash cam footage may come in handy, given the second officer went to talk with the pursuing officer after we mentioned camera footage. I do believe the ticket was intentionally filled out incorrectly after we mentioned dash data.

I'm looking at either 5 over or a dismissal. I have a consultation with a lawyer on Fri so I'll update then.

 

[mightymoose]

You would be surprised how many citations get returned to officers for corrections due to an improper code. They fix it and send it back. Problem solved. It does not result in an automatic dismissal.

 

[Number6]

In VA there are no amended tickets, the officer just shows up with his corrections.