thinking about fighting VC 22450(a)

[mistyen]

Hello. I got a failure to stop @ stop sign ticket last night. I was making a right turn and the officer said i did not stop completely. since i have extra time on my hand, i am thinking about defending myself and trying to beat this ticket.

here's a short description of the situation:
I was stopped at 9:36pm at night. the road has undergone recent maintenant and does not have the word "STOP" and lines on it, but there is a stop sign on the side walk. the lighting was rather poor at that location.

the officer stopped me after following me for 2 blocks. i knew he was following so i tried to drive as nice as i could be, obeying speed limit and stopped perfectly at those 2 stop signs. but nevertheless, he still gave me the ticket.

the reasons for the stop were a failure to stop and also a missing front license plate. on the ticket, he indicated that i was driving at 15mph, which is within the speed limit. he did not show me any radar reading. the comments on road, weather & traffic condition were "C-D-L".

there are several things i found interesting on the ticket:
1. the officer indicated the date of violation clearily. but when he circle the day of week, the circle was too big and covered both wednesday and thursday.
2. under the race(ethnicity) box, the officer put down "OTH" which is something i don't understand.
3. he did not specify a date for my court appearence. instead, he checked the within 30 days box.

i wonder if i have a positive shot at beating this thing. i read somewhere that i should file a motion of discovery to obtain some of the notes and comments from my accuser. what is the correct procedure to file this motion? is it better to contest the violation by court trial or by written declaration? will play the race card work for me in traffic court?(yes, i've been watching law and order way too much....) lastly, if i plead not guilty and lose, what would be the consequence(other than the original fee)?

i have 1 red light ticket on my record which is 4-5 years ago, so i am not a first timer. i paid my ticket straight up back then(without traffic school) and the negative ramification is still with me today. i guess this time i m going to take a different approach. thanks in advance for any comments and advices.

 

[CdwJava]

here's a short description of the situation:
I was stopped at 9:36pm at night. the road has undergone recent maintenant and does not have the word "STOP" and lines on it, but there is a stop sign on the side walk. the lighting was rather poor at that location.

But there was a stop sign, and you did see it.

the reasons for the stop were a failure to stop and also a missing front license plate.

So, two violations? What section did he use for the no front plate?

on the ticket, he indicated that i was driving at 15mph, which is within the speed limit. he did not show me any radar reading. the comments on road, weather & traffic condition were "C-D-L".

You weren't cited for speeding so your speed and any radar reading are irrelevant (though he wouldn't have to show you the radar reading anyway).
And I can only assume that CDL is for "Clear - Dark - Light". In any event, those are notes for him and not directly relevant to the violation anyway.

there are several things i found interesting on the ticket:
1. the officer indicated the date of violation clearily. but when he circle the day of week, the circle was too big and covered both wednesday and thursday.

Sorry, no magic pill and not relevant to the violation.

2. under the race(ethnicity) box, the officer put down "OTH" which is something i don't understand.

No clue ... but, again, not relevant to the violation.

3. he did not specify a date for my court appearence. instead, he checked the within 30 days box.

Perhaps you are under 18? In any event, you follow the instructions on the citation. With luck, the address on the citation and your real address are the same. make sure that they also coincide with the address on the citation. If not, then you may miss any notice and you would still be responsible for it. If these addresses are not identical, you might want to check with the court of jurisdiction after two weeks to determine when and where you have to appear.

i wonder if i have a positive shot at beating this thing.

Not based on what you have written here. if the officer doesn't show, then you might.

i read somewhere that i should file a motion of discovery to obtain some of the notes and comments from my accuser. what is the correct procedure to file this motion?

If you Google the terms you should find a lot of information on how to do this. Be sure to send copies to the DA and the agency involved as well as the traffic court of jurisdiction ... it can't hurt.

is it better to contest the violation by court trial or by written declaration?

If you lose the written declaration, you get to have a new trial at court if you file quickly enough. Keep in mind that what you write tin the TBD can be used at the court trial later, too. So do not write something for the TBD that you do not intend to use later at trial.

will play the race card work for me in traffic court?(yes, i've been watching law and order way too much....)

Nothing you have written here indicates ANYTHING racial. If you want to tick off the court, you can make this unfounded allegation ... judges tend to get miffed when you make outrageous allegations without cause.

lastly, if i plead not guilty and lose, what would be the consequence(other than the original fee)?

A max. fine, I suppose. It depends what the front plate section is and whether it has been assigned as a correctable violation. I can give you the break down when you provide that second section.

You might also consider traffic school. Sometimes, if you go to trial and are found "guilty" the court will not allow you to attend traffic school. This is a common practice in CA.


- Carl