Thank you for the information provided. Not what I wanted to hear, but duly noted. Two further questions. 1. I've asked for Discovery three times regarding the tuning fork calibration and the officer's citation log for the month of March 2015. Prosecutions has said they are not departing with information as it is not relevant to my citation. Should I file a motion to compel? 2. Should I file for a Continuance since the trial date is 6 days away?
You can attempt to file any motion you can conceive.
Why bother?
Requesting the officer's citation log, assuming he maintains one (per se), not gonna happen.
The prosecutor is correct, but the judge makes the call.
Such a blanket request is akin to asking for the officer's notebook.
Only the dumbest and a few rookie officers even bring that notebook to court when the testify.
They know what can happen if they pull it out and ask to review their notes on the case, BEFORE answering your question.
You might be more successful in asking for a log of the citations issued by the officer, maintained by the agency for which he is employed.
That wouldn't likely be allowed by the judge either, for want of relevance.
Remember, this your trial, not the trial of other defendants in your jurisdiction.
You can appear and request a continuance, with a good reason.
If you and prosecutor agree, the request becomes pro forma.
You won't likely enjoy the outcome.
Small claims courts, traffic courts in Texas are the lowest courts in our state.
Some sitting jurists are Justices of the Peace (very few of whom are attorneys), others are Municipal court judges (most of whom sit part-time, others are egomaniacs that don't like to be challenged).
The simpler route, and the 100% successful route would be to take traffic school, or seek "deferred adjudication", assuming you don't want the citations to post against your drivers license.
You will not be allowed to subpoena the Police Department's manuals.
You may attempt to order a copy of the manuals from the equipment manufacturer.
You may request to subpoena the individual who issued any departmental or officer certifications.
One can request the subpoena be issued by the court.
The court won't help you gather names, addresses, phone numbers, etc...
Gathering all such information remains your responsibility.
Plus, you will have to fund the witnesses' travel and living expenses to appear in court to testify, unless the court allows them to testify by video-conference.
Many of those manufacturers and experts live on the west or east coast.
Even if you win, this will cost you far more than the citation fine and costs, and certainly more than traffic school or deferred adjudication.
Texas has no law requiring police officer to calibrate the radar (or LIDAR) device used in his or her cruiser.
Why?
The officer can't calibrate the device.
The device's antenna must calibrated regularly (I think annually by law or TECLOSE regulation, in some cases every six months by departmental policy).
That calibration is accomplished by having the antennas calibrated a certified lab.
Most people attempting to be Ben Matlock or Perry Mason use calibration improperly.
You want the PROOF, if you want to charge down this rat hole, indicating the last time the device was sent to the lab for calibration testing by laboratory engineers.
I've only given you the thumbnail approach.
It isn't as easy as I've made it seem.
There is much more to it.
I wanted you to know what you're about to attempt.
I used to defend these cases regularly. :yes:
I may have defended 2,000 (or more), and the money was easy.:yes:
Once the state allowed "traffic school", "deferred adjudications", and the area police agencies wised up, the "walking ATMS" dried up. LOL :blush
Obtaining subpoenas, having them served properly will only run up your costs.
The easy way, or the hard way, your call.
You might find these articles to be informative:
http://www.vmaxoutlaw.com/tech/speeding.PDF
http://criminal.lawyers.com/traffic-violations/defending-a-speeding-ticket.html
http://www.bluesheepdog.com/successful-traffic-court/
http://www.worldlawdirect.com/forum...-i-beat-my-ticket-texas-speeding-tickets.html
http://www.worldlawdirect.com/article/903/fighting-speeding-ticket.html
I wish you well. :bye: