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I could be wrong on this but I think "clear" means no rain, snow, or fog....sunny or cloudy is "clear" for driving visibility. Maybe Rookie can explain more, whenever he stops mowing the lawn.

Hope it works out for you.

Here were the options;

Weather
o Clear
o Cloudy
o Raining
o Other

It did not say visibility, it said Weather.

I would think it doesn't matter much. Although if you say it was cloudy that means there wasn't as much light in the area and the traffic light would be even more visible. As opposed to a very sunny condition where the sunlight is so bright you can't tell which of the lights are on.

No, I'm not saying I wasn't guilty. Just that he screwed the paperwork. Just like if they bust in and find you snorting coke, but they don't have their paperwork right, it's inadmissible. I'm wondering if this kind of paperwork faux pas is a loophole for me. Any lawyers on the board? I’ve heard of people getting off on stupider things.

When I was a stupid teenager, I was stopped for speeding (first and only time, I might add). The cop wrote the wrong date and make of my car...I was driving a 65 Mustang, so the error had to be deliberate. Being a stupid teenager, I didn't bother to show up at traffic court and eventually lost my license briefly. Afterward, a cop friend of mine checked out my ticket and told me they messed up the ticket deliberately just to make it inconvenient for me by forcing me to appear in court. The judge would have thrown it out if I'd just put in an appearance.

Maybe that's what's going on with you Robbie...

ROFL

Ummm....no. Definitely not!

Plead insanity or get color blind real quick.
It depends what state county etc. the offence occurred. I had one trooper mess up every thing but his name. Even gave me a court date on a Holiday weekend. I show up - no court, go to police station to get documentation I showed up - the desk cop laughed said come on back next week son and we'll try again, ol' Joe messed up a whole bunch of tickets. I could not believe they wanted me to drive an extra 400 miles to fight a ticket they should have dismissed. Long story short called the DA, got into a tiff, he threatens to bury me under the jail, I paid the ticket by mail with a note (and extra $5)inside wishing him well on his re-election. Now I drive around the state of Louisiana.

No contest will usually still end up on record and fined, it is up to the judge. Plead for deferred judification with the ASST. DA or other district attorney reps usually hanging around court rooms. Get lower fine maybe and if you're good no record.

Sheesh!

Find a local "Mr. Ticket" attorney...

We have one in San Diego. You pay $99 bucks and he gets you off...usually.

: )

Still beats a buck fifty or better fine...

A traffic summons is an accusatory instrument and must be prepared accurately. If it contains errors or omissions it will be considered invalid and dismissed by the judge. These errors should be obvious ie. incorrect location, date etc. Unfortunately for you, your perception of what is "clear" might be argued by the summonsing officer as cloudy of vice versa. This is a point for a lawyer to argue to the judge. An experienced officer can paint a vivid picture of his observations at the time of the incident. I doubt that the summons will be dismissed but maybe you'll have a nice judge.

I think they are going to give you the Chair, throw the book or GAS you, maybe lethal injection. I'd call Johnny Cockran,

From my two cents...our tickets have notes for weather only on our copy. However, if you go to court with a weather print out from the National Weather Service indicating that the weather was cloudy and the Officer noted clear I think it would invalidate the Officer's opinion on the weather.

I know that mistakes made on a citation don't necessarily invalidate a citation unless it has something to do with the description of the location, time,violation or vehicle.

Jefferson, THAT'S what the smiley face was for...silly goose!

Sorry bud, its gonna stick. Sunny, cloudy etc. has not bearing on the color of the light. Goodluck!

I'll toss in some pointers. Tickets issued with a simple mistake usually do not invalidate the entire citation. In 20 years, I have lost in court only twice and neither had anything to do with errors. Both were caused by lack of pre trial preparation on my part.

Understand, when you go to court...you are addressing only the violation. Not the weather. Not the traffic. Not what the next car did. Just the violation. You job as your own attorney is to raise a reasonable doubt. There are a few things that you may try to raise a reasonable doubt:(man I hate sharing this but I sometimes love seeing rookies sweat when they get a tough court case)

Ask the Officer if he is absolutely sure it was you. Grow a moustache or shave one off....grow your hair...part it differently...wear a suit if you were dressed casually or wear casual clothes if you wore a suit when you were stopped. Look at the Officer and ask him if there was a chance that someone else was using your license or a duplicate/counterfeit of your license. Don't push too hard...just a little nudge. If he doesn't get stumped. Stop the line of questioning immediately and move on. Don't commit perjury just ask if he is sure it was you. Move on to the next question.

Ask the Officer exactly where he was in relation to the light, if he had a clear view of the light that you were facing. Next ask how he knows it was your car. Have him describe something remarkable (bumper sticker, bad paint, a custom feature, make, model, passengers). Ask him if he kept your car in sight the entire time.

Next, ask what the sequence of the lights at the intersection are. Do your homework and make sure you have the answers as well. Ask how long the typical green light phase is. Aske how long the yellow light stays on before it turns red. Ask if he timed the sequence on the day of the citation.

You can get the drift here. One thing...if you are going to try and profess innocence...never waver. Never state that the light might have been red for a second before you crossed the limit line or anything of the sort. Never, never, never, never state anything or claim anything that accuses the Officer of dishonesty. I have seen very few things that will piss off a traffic court judge more than someone calling or insinuating an Officer was dishonest. It's like instant conviction with the highest penalty allowed.

If you want to play the court game, all you are trying to do is raise a small amount of doubt that the violation was observed by the Officer properly. State that in your closing comment. Something like this:

" Your Honor...with all due respect to this Officer and his professionality...I feel that in this case, his perception of the violation may have been slightly off. I was facing a green light when I entered the intersection. I believe that the light phase was unusually short. That while I entered the intersection, it is possible the light phase cycled yellow and red in such a fast sequence that it did not allow time for traffic to pass through the intersection without being perceived as being unlawful. That the Officer may not have been given the oportunity to have a fair perception of the location of my vehicle in relation to the red light phase since the light possibly cycled in such a rapid fashion. I honestly feel that I entered the intersection in a lawful manner. I would like to motion the court to dismiss the citation based upon a reasonable doubt that the light was functioning properly."

The only reason I offer this up is because I take notes, cover all my bases and am absolutely prepared when I enter a court room. I don't take it personally, I really don't care about the outcome of the court case. It is out of my hands when I am done testifying. But I hate to see Officers fail to be prepared for a case. It's embarassing to me when I see one get stumped over something simple like identification. I'm not offerring up any secrets. Just pointing you in the right direction. Understand....not everyone can pull it off. I've been in court hundreds of times and testified in everything from 2 month trials to 20 second traffic court cases. So in this case it is easier said than done. I used to teach traffic violators school and shared similar advice.

Your other option is to take your lumps and go to traffic school. (It's easier)

Robby,
You said that the summons was issued as a result of your left turn. You'll have to prove that you were inside in intersection (beyond the first line of a marked crosswalk)before the light turned red. It is OK to make a left turn on a red light provided that you were within the boundries of the intersection while the light was still green.
For arguments sake, lets say you entered the intersection on the green light, paused, maybe to allow some oncoming traffic to pass you, or were behind other cars turning left, then you proceeded to safely make your left turn. Traffic conditions are an important consideration here.
As Rayder stated, and you'll know within the first ten seconds of the officers testimony, if he is prepared or not. You'll have to adjust your strategy on that. Good thing for you, the officer goes first. Basically, testifying in traffic court is following a script for the officer. He needs to make "salient" points. Going pretty much as follows. The officer will identify himself and tell where and when the violation occured. If he was in a marked car. He will describe the intersection, crosswalks? type of light, red amber green? and the times in seconds that each phase of the light. He should say that he returned to the scene and looked at the light from your vantage point and observed it to be in proper working order. He should tell where he was in relation to your vehicle, behind etc and that he observed you vehicle cross a point that he considers the intersection while the light was RED. This point is usually a marked crosswalk or an imaginary line based upon a building line or some stationary object. Something like this, "I observed a yellow Edsel cross into the intersection after the light was steady red for approximately 2 seconds, I had a clear and unobstructed view of the subject vehicle. I followed the vehicle for one block and pulled it to the side of the road at the corner of x and y street. I informed the motorist of the violation observed and requested his identification, which he presented. A Georgia photo drivers license. He was identified as Robby Macanudo etc etc." He matched the photo on the license. Any statements made by the driver can be used in court. "I had to go pee pee"
You should return to the location and become very familiar with it. Check the timing of the traffic light on all sides if possible and make a note of it. Note if there is a marked crosswalk also. You need to be within the intersection before the light was red. Where was the officer in relation to you? Was his car in motion? What if he was on the side street? If so, could he know what color your light was? Using identification as a defense sometimes works but now with photo ID's its less likely. If you gave him some ID without a photo (Unlikely nowadays) you should ask for as many postponements as possible to allow the incident to be forgotten over time. Forget it if the car is registered to you, you'll look like an ass if you say someone other than you was driving your car with your license who looks like you.
Now that I've beaten this dead pony enough, good luck. Im sure Ive left some things out, its been a few years since I taught this course. Questions?username above @yahoo.com

Robby,
Have you requested a supporting deposition? I once got a speeding ticket and requested the supporting deposition and got off because it could not be provided! An SD is the result of an officer doing the proper paperwork at the station. sometimes they forget!

Robby... after all the advice you have received I believe that you should throw yourself at the mercy of the court and hope to be released in 5-10 years with good behavior. LOL!!!

John