Y2K5SRT
Enthusiast
Well, I had my day in court today regarding what I think was the first official SRT-10 speeding ticket. As you may recall, I got this bogus ticket back in February and have been awaiting my trial date. Originally had an attorney who said it would cost more to have him do it. A lot more. He also figured I had no chance at beating it anyway (not a traffic attorney). So...
I get to the courtroom after a couple months of SOLID preparation. I have news articles, NHTSA manuals, pictures - you name it. Of course, I am hoping the traffic cop won't show so it gets immediately dismissed. No luck there: Not only does he show, but he shows up in FULL SWAT TEAM GEAR. Bullet-proof vests, military boots, what looked like smoke grenades, ammo clips, and at least two guns I could see. It was almost comical, but really did impress the crowd. And of course we learn that he is assigned solely to the traffic division.
So I figured that with the excessive distance of the laser (1464 feet when he showed me the gun at the scene), that was one nail - as few states give judicial notice to anything over 1000 feet. He inflated the number to 1550 feet today and said they were accurate to 6000-10,000 feet(!!!) I pointed out the NHTSA guidelines suggesting that they recommended laser (LIDAR) never be used over 1200 feet. Fell on deaf ears.
I then pointed out that there was merging traffic and that it would be impossible for him to clock me, especially since I had been passed by a minivan which was immediately in front of me. We even discussed it at the scene and he said that I was "catching the minivan" and that was why he clocked me. Guess what? TODAY he said THERE WAS NO OTHER TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY EXCEPT ME. NONE. I was stunned that this guy could lie like that, but what could I possibly do? I contradicted him, pointed out the minivan (among the many cars that day) and even provided the dimensions of the van vs. that of the SRT. He denied there were any other cars on the road at all. I was absolutely dumbfounded.
There were many other lies and BS that took place, as I slowly drowned in them. I kept him busy for 45 minutes and even managed to get three "objections" from the prosecuting attorney, all of which were overruled (yay for me). I then provided photographs of the clocking site (lots of trees), which he said he shot between. I showed pictures of every angle of the Viper, ESPECIALLY the front, which has very little "flat" surface perpendicular to the ground (none). He agreed that you needed a flat surface to clock the car. He even pointed out the thin bar in the middle of the grill as being ideal. Yeah, from 1550 feet away. So get this, when I immediately pounced on that, he said "I never said 'flat' or at least that isn't what I meant." I asked if I could have his previous statement read back to me and the judge said, "NO." ARGHHHHH!!!
The only bright side was that the prosecuting attorney was a college-aged woman wearing flip-flop sandals. I kid you not. She basically read from a script. Had I followed my original plan of going into the law profession, it would have been a piece of cake to take her case apart. But with my very first court appearance EVER, a lying traffic cop dressed like he just came from the front line in Iraq, and a judge that wasn't much help, I gave up. Guilty as charged.
The only good news was that I vowed I would immediately sell the SRT if I lost (still waiting for Tony to belly up to the bar). I did not want a car that attracts guys like this, as I thought I was immune in this peaceful little burg where the cops are amazingly honest and nice to hang out with. Once I got out of there I was VERY relieved just to have the stupid thing over and done. Disappointed, yes. Ready to go out and drive somewhere besides here, you betcha!
Chris
I get to the courtroom after a couple months of SOLID preparation. I have news articles, NHTSA manuals, pictures - you name it. Of course, I am hoping the traffic cop won't show so it gets immediately dismissed. No luck there: Not only does he show, but he shows up in FULL SWAT TEAM GEAR. Bullet-proof vests, military boots, what looked like smoke grenades, ammo clips, and at least two guns I could see. It was almost comical, but really did impress the crowd. And of course we learn that he is assigned solely to the traffic division.
So I figured that with the excessive distance of the laser (1464 feet when he showed me the gun at the scene), that was one nail - as few states give judicial notice to anything over 1000 feet. He inflated the number to 1550 feet today and said they were accurate to 6000-10,000 feet(!!!) I pointed out the NHTSA guidelines suggesting that they recommended laser (LIDAR) never be used over 1200 feet. Fell on deaf ears.
I then pointed out that there was merging traffic and that it would be impossible for him to clock me, especially since I had been passed by a minivan which was immediately in front of me. We even discussed it at the scene and he said that I was "catching the minivan" and that was why he clocked me. Guess what? TODAY he said THERE WAS NO OTHER TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY EXCEPT ME. NONE. I was stunned that this guy could lie like that, but what could I possibly do? I contradicted him, pointed out the minivan (among the many cars that day) and even provided the dimensions of the van vs. that of the SRT. He denied there were any other cars on the road at all. I was absolutely dumbfounded.
There were many other lies and BS that took place, as I slowly drowned in them. I kept him busy for 45 minutes and even managed to get three "objections" from the prosecuting attorney, all of which were overruled (yay for me). I then provided photographs of the clocking site (lots of trees), which he said he shot between. I showed pictures of every angle of the Viper, ESPECIALLY the front, which has very little "flat" surface perpendicular to the ground (none). He agreed that you needed a flat surface to clock the car. He even pointed out the thin bar in the middle of the grill as being ideal. Yeah, from 1550 feet away. So get this, when I immediately pounced on that, he said "I never said 'flat' or at least that isn't what I meant." I asked if I could have his previous statement read back to me and the judge said, "NO." ARGHHHHH!!!
The only bright side was that the prosecuting attorney was a college-aged woman wearing flip-flop sandals. I kid you not. She basically read from a script. Had I followed my original plan of going into the law profession, it would have been a piece of cake to take her case apart. But with my very first court appearance EVER, a lying traffic cop dressed like he just came from the front line in Iraq, and a judge that wasn't much help, I gave up. Guilty as charged.
The only good news was that I vowed I would immediately sell the SRT if I lost (still waiting for Tony to belly up to the bar). I did not want a car that attracts guys like this, as I thought I was immune in this peaceful little burg where the cops are amazingly honest and nice to hang out with. Once I got out of there I was VERY relieved just to have the stupid thing over and done. Disappointed, yes. Ready to go out and drive somewhere besides here, you betcha!
Chris
