Darryl's Blog
Busted! My day in court
Last June, I got a traffic ticket for disobeying a stop sign. The officer said I came to a rolling stop, which is no stop at all. I disagreed, so I went to court. I even had photo evidence!
This is what the officer would have seen from his vantage point. Notice the hedge - the car has pulled ahead after stopping. But you can't see what happened at the stop line, which is what is at issue. The hedge is blocking his view.
Today was the big day. I observed some of what was going on, made some notes, got familiar with court protocol. This was finally my chance to cross-examine an officer and to give a final summation and all that stuff I normally only see on TV.
I thought I did a pretty good job. In fact, I think I was innocent, but...not enough to convince the Justice of the Peace. Busted!
The stubborn part of me is thinking of appealing, but for now, I've had my day in court. Three demerit points and a fine. I've been driving for twenty years and this is the first time I've been dinged demerit points. Hate to break that record.
Next time I get to court, I might try to be a bit more dramatic: "You can't handle the truth!" Or maybe I'll just keep my day job.
As I learned in a similar case, tie goes to the blue team.
I think you're right. So much for reasonable doubt.
I have a good friend who was fined for rolling through a stop sign, even though he knew he was innocent. He took it to court and won.
It didn't help that the Constable who booked him and the Seargent from the police station couldn't get their 'evidence' to agree.
I had a similar experience once. I went through the stop sign all right, and freely admitted it. Problem was, I had dropped a cigarette just as I was approaching the intersection, and it was burning my leg in a most tender place. In my frantic efforts to find the thing, I drove right through the intersection without stopping.
When I explained this to the cop, he gave me a choice: Failure to stop, or careless driving.
Which would you choose? Yeah, me, too.
When I went to court, I admitted driving through the sign and told my story. I think the J.P. found it so funny, he not only reduced the fine, but declined to remove any points.
Sometimes it pays to be the "butt" of a joke!
what you don't say is whether the edge of the hedge is the line where you were supposed to stop?
The stop line is a couple of feet back from the hedge, so you can't see it from the viewpoint of the officer.
There's a sermon illustration in there somewhere!