My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: NJ
Background:
Ticket Issued: 11/20/2014
Citation : 39:4 36 a(1) - Not stopping for Pedestrian
Notice to Appear Date : 12/2/14
I have NO tickets in over 10 years
I was one of the many folks that were ticketed on 11/20 in New Brunswick, NJ as part of a "Decoy" operation that the Police were conducting to ticket traffic offenders. In my case, I decided to please "not guilty" as I had stopped at the crosswalk (there was a lot of police action on the road that day and I was extra cautious), and I felt the police officer who stopped me (he stopped me at the next intersection, which is about 50 yards away) could not have seen what happened as I was behind a large van. Also, the police officer (a different one) who wrote the ticket was not the one who stopped me (the police office who wrote the ticket was not even in the vicinity of the intersection - he walked up from his patrol car, which was well out of view of the intersection where they claim this violation happened).
I requested a reschedule and my court date was set for 12/17/15, per a letter dated 12/4/2015
I sent a Request for Discovery on 12/09/2015 - I wanted to see if there was any written statement or radio communication between the "Decoy officer" the Officer who stopped me and the Officer who wrote my ticket.
I appeared at the court, pleaded "not guilty", was asked to go see the Prosecutor. When I met the Prosecutor, he asked if I wanted to really plead "not guilty", and I said "Yes". He didn't offer any reduction etc., and I didn't ask either. He then suggested I appear in front of the judge and plead the case right away, to which I told him that I had raised a Discovery request and that it has not been responded to. He then looked up his files, asked for proof (which I gave him), made a copy of my letter and asked me to appear in front of the judge. When I appeared in front of the judge, she asked me if I wanted to plead "not guilty" and if I was aware of what I was pleading not guilty to - I told her I knew what I was pleading not guilty to. She then made a note and informed the prosecutor that a copy of the discovery should be sent to me, and told me that my court date will be rescheduled
The new court date is now set for 2/4/16
I have NOT yet received any discovery related documents from the Prosecutor's office.
My question are as follows:
1. Should I keep the court date, appear in front of the judge, and ask for a dismissal on the grounds that my Discovery request has not been addressed, despite the judge's order
2. Should I send in a second request and ask for a postponement?
3. Appear as per the court date, and if they don't dismiss the case, and say there is no discovery documents to produce, should I request a postponement to prepare or go prepared and fight it out (I have done some preparation with sketches etc., to show how the P.O who stopped me and the P.O who wrote the ticket cannot have seen whether i stopped the car or not)
Thanks in advance and apologies for the lengthy note
Background:
Ticket Issued: 11/20/2014
Citation : 39:4 36 a(1) - Not stopping for Pedestrian
Notice to Appear Date : 12/2/14
I have NO tickets in over 10 years
I was one of the many folks that were ticketed on 11/20 in New Brunswick, NJ as part of a "Decoy" operation that the Police were conducting to ticket traffic offenders. In my case, I decided to please "not guilty" as I had stopped at the crosswalk (there was a lot of police action on the road that day and I was extra cautious), and I felt the police officer who stopped me (he stopped me at the next intersection, which is about 50 yards away) could not have seen what happened as I was behind a large van. Also, the police officer (a different one) who wrote the ticket was not the one who stopped me (the police office who wrote the ticket was not even in the vicinity of the intersection - he walked up from his patrol car, which was well out of view of the intersection where they claim this violation happened).
I requested a reschedule and my court date was set for 12/17/15, per a letter dated 12/4/2015
I sent a Request for Discovery on 12/09/2015 - I wanted to see if there was any written statement or radio communication between the "Decoy officer" the Officer who stopped me and the Officer who wrote my ticket.
I appeared at the court, pleaded "not guilty", was asked to go see the Prosecutor. When I met the Prosecutor, he asked if I wanted to really plead "not guilty", and I said "Yes". He didn't offer any reduction etc., and I didn't ask either. He then suggested I appear in front of the judge and plead the case right away, to which I told him that I had raised a Discovery request and that it has not been responded to. He then looked up his files, asked for proof (which I gave him), made a copy of my letter and asked me to appear in front of the judge. When I appeared in front of the judge, she asked me if I wanted to plead "not guilty" and if I was aware of what I was pleading not guilty to - I told her I knew what I was pleading not guilty to. She then made a note and informed the prosecutor that a copy of the discovery should be sent to me, and told me that my court date will be rescheduled
The new court date is now set for 2/4/16
I have NOT yet received any discovery related documents from the Prosecutor's office.
My question are as follows:
1. Should I keep the court date, appear in front of the judge, and ask for a dismissal on the grounds that my Discovery request has not been addressed, despite the judge's order
2. Should I send in a second request and ask for a postponement?
3. Appear as per the court date, and if they don't dismiss the case, and say there is no discovery documents to produce, should I request a postponement to prepare or go prepared and fight it out (I have done some preparation with sketches etc., to show how the P.O who stopped me and the P.O who wrote the ticket cannot have seen whether i stopped the car or not)
Thanks in advance and apologies for the lengthy note
Failure to Yield: Lack of Response to Discovery - Should I Seek Dismissal or Send a Second Request
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire