My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Indiana
Hello all, I received a speeding ticket in Indiana for doing 46 in a 25. The regular speed limit is 40 and it dropped to a school zone so the officer clocked me for 21 over. He cited me for the speeding violation but not the school zone. He noted my perfect driving record and told me I would be able to defer the ticket. Ok no big deal. I call to find out about deferring the ticket and you cannot defer a ticket that is more then 20 MPH over the speed limit. Not sure what do to I pleaded not guilty and was hoping to be able to go to court and through mitigation get the ticket reduced so I could partake in the deferral program. Not sure what all I would need, I filed for discovery through the prosecutors office and for a continuance through the courts to provide ample time for the prosecutor to grant the discovery. The continuance was granted but the discovery never was. However the prosecutor did decide to file a motion to amend and changed my speeding ticket to include the school zone infraction IC9.21.5.6.d, which was granted. I never received any information through discovery and filed for a motion to compel discovery through the courts which was ignored.
Now reading through the law for IC9.21.5.6.d it only pertains to state roads. IC9.21.5.6.f pertains to local roads which is what I was actually on. In order for section D to be valid it states: However, a speed limit established under this subsection is valid only if the following conditions exist: (5)The Indiana department of transportation has been notified of the limit imposed by certified mail. I have an email from INDOT stating they have no records or jurisdiction over this road. This will be my first piece of information to present. Now I anticipate that the prosecutor will amend to either IC9.21.5.2 (the general speeding law) or IC9.21.5.6.f( the speeding in a school zone on local roads). If it is amended to the general speeding law the posted speed limit is 40 MPH, which would reduce my ticket to 6 over. Correct?? The minimum speed under the IC9.21.5.2 is 30 MPH in an urban district. So I figure it should at least would be reduced to 16 MPH over which hopefully let me partake in the deferral program.
If the charge gets amended to IC9.21.5.6.f (school zone) then there are two points that I plan to attack. The school zone must be in the immediate vicinity of the school, and children must be present. The school zone extends approximately 0.4 miles in each direction from the school, however all the surrounding schools in the area average only about 0.2 miles in each direction. This school zone is unnaturally large and I feel doesn't meet the requirement. I have pictures of the other school zones and how close the signs are, along with google maps from the edge of the school zone to the school, and would reset my trip tik and get the actually mileage it took my vehicle to get from the school zone to the front entrance. Is this a viable defense?
Second, children must be present. I cannot find any legal definition for the state of Indiana of whether this means in the cross walks/ immediate vicinity of the road or if being present in the school is enough. I feel the prosecutor would try to state that merely being in the school meets the requirement. Since I am 100% positive no children were present. The biggest problem is this is hard to prove. I tried to obtain the dash cam through our access to public records act since we drove almost all the way through the school zone since I was looking for a safe place to pull over, however the dash cam was not on. I will obtain the officers notes to see if he made any notes of children being present. I also have the schools bell schedule and the incident occurred while class was in session not during lunch or in between classes. Is there anything I can do to make this a stronger argument.
Also do I still get to present mitigating evidence if I am found guilty? I preemptively did the drivers course to remove 4 points and to show I am a taking this ticket seriously. I also obtained my official driving record from the state which is clean. I am trying to negate the effects of this ticket as much as possible.
So basically did I screw myself by not just paying the initial ticket?
Links for laws if your interested
http://ift.tt/2tAOWQs Trial/Procedural law
http://ift.tt/2tBaex5 IC for general speeding
http://ift.tt/2tB2nj6 IC for speeding in a school zone
Hello all, I received a speeding ticket in Indiana for doing 46 in a 25. The regular speed limit is 40 and it dropped to a school zone so the officer clocked me for 21 over. He cited me for the speeding violation but not the school zone. He noted my perfect driving record and told me I would be able to defer the ticket. Ok no big deal. I call to find out about deferring the ticket and you cannot defer a ticket that is more then 20 MPH over the speed limit. Not sure what do to I pleaded not guilty and was hoping to be able to go to court and through mitigation get the ticket reduced so I could partake in the deferral program. Not sure what all I would need, I filed for discovery through the prosecutors office and for a continuance through the courts to provide ample time for the prosecutor to grant the discovery. The continuance was granted but the discovery never was. However the prosecutor did decide to file a motion to amend and changed my speeding ticket to include the school zone infraction IC9.21.5.6.d, which was granted. I never received any information through discovery and filed for a motion to compel discovery through the courts which was ignored.
Now reading through the law for IC9.21.5.6.d it only pertains to state roads. IC9.21.5.6.f pertains to local roads which is what I was actually on. In order for section D to be valid it states: However, a speed limit established under this subsection is valid only if the following conditions exist: (5)The Indiana department of transportation has been notified of the limit imposed by certified mail. I have an email from INDOT stating they have no records or jurisdiction over this road. This will be my first piece of information to present. Now I anticipate that the prosecutor will amend to either IC9.21.5.2 (the general speeding law) or IC9.21.5.6.f( the speeding in a school zone on local roads). If it is amended to the general speeding law the posted speed limit is 40 MPH, which would reduce my ticket to 6 over. Correct?? The minimum speed under the IC9.21.5.2 is 30 MPH in an urban district. So I figure it should at least would be reduced to 16 MPH over which hopefully let me partake in the deferral program.
If the charge gets amended to IC9.21.5.6.f (school zone) then there are two points that I plan to attack. The school zone must be in the immediate vicinity of the school, and children must be present. The school zone extends approximately 0.4 miles in each direction from the school, however all the surrounding schools in the area average only about 0.2 miles in each direction. This school zone is unnaturally large and I feel doesn't meet the requirement. I have pictures of the other school zones and how close the signs are, along with google maps from the edge of the school zone to the school, and would reset my trip tik and get the actually mileage it took my vehicle to get from the school zone to the front entrance. Is this a viable defense?
Second, children must be present. I cannot find any legal definition for the state of Indiana of whether this means in the cross walks/ immediate vicinity of the road or if being present in the school is enough. I feel the prosecutor would try to state that merely being in the school meets the requirement. Since I am 100% positive no children were present. The biggest problem is this is hard to prove. I tried to obtain the dash cam through our access to public records act since we drove almost all the way through the school zone since I was looking for a safe place to pull over, however the dash cam was not on. I will obtain the officers notes to see if he made any notes of children being present. I also have the schools bell schedule and the incident occurred while class was in session not during lunch or in between classes. Is there anything I can do to make this a stronger argument.
Also do I still get to present mitigating evidence if I am found guilty? I preemptively did the drivers course to remove 4 points and to show I am a taking this ticket seriously. I also obtained my official driving record from the state which is clean. I am trying to negate the effects of this ticket as much as possible.
So basically did I screw myself by not just paying the initial ticket?
Links for laws if your interested
http://ift.tt/2tAOWQs Trial/Procedural law
http://ift.tt/2tBaex5 IC for general speeding
http://ift.tt/2tB2nj6 IC for speeding in a school zone
Speeding Tickets: Defenses to Speeding in a School Zone in Indiana
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