My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California
Hello,
To begin with, I am not a US citizen and it was my first time in the U.S. My personal circumstances have recently changed and I now have a new full name and new driving license number etc.
Very almost exactly six months ago I was stopped on the SR-1. The CHP officer said that I was doing about 70 in a 55 MPH zone. I did not argue or admit any guilt, but politely ask that he give me a warning. I wanted to co-operate and hoped that if I did then I might be more likely to be let off with a warning and so when he asked if I had my driving license, I did hand it to him (someone later on Pismo Beach said that I should have said that I didn't have it with me). He did, however, say that there is a big difference in the bail/fine for going 15 MPH over as opposed to 5-10 MPH (or something along those lines). So, he wrote a citation out (The Vehicle Code is 22349(b)).
Upon returning to the UK, I contacted the Court. I was told that it takes four weeks for the citation to be loaded onto the system. I waited and called back. Someone then said that I can contact California Highway Patrol and ask for a "discovery request". Although someone at CHP kind of strangely asked me to fax the request for this, I then received (via email because I had written my email on the faxed paper) scan of front and rear of CHP's copy of the citation, traffic radar certification test data, radar calibration charts & logs, certificate of attainments for the officer's radar & lidar operation. I was expecting to see evidence of the alleged speeding infraction, but I could not see any (maybe there is no evidence). I wrote to the Courthouse politely asking that the citation be cancelled. They swiftly wrote back and had reduced the bail by about 50%, yet there was still no evidence of the alleged speeding. I wrote back again and this time included printouts of what I received from CHP in response to the discovery request. They wrote back and are now basically stating that I can either post the reduced bail OR request a court trial or trial by declaration. Of course, US law requires defendants basically pay the fine before the trial etc.
I understand that many prefer the TBD option because it means that the officer won't be going into court in person (therefore no $300+ payment) and so many officers sometimes don't bother submitting their own TBD. Even though it was six months ago I reckon that that officer will probably remember stopping me (non-US citizen) on the Pacific Coast Highway - he also wrote his own notes on the rear of the citation (maybe to refresh his memory in case of trials etc.?). I couldn't read what he wrote so asked the person at CHP via email to see if it could be deciphered. The notes read, "Est 70 Radar Same Rapidly Catching Slower Group 400' Ahead. Conv w/ Top Down. Thought Extortion. Said Not That Fast & I Could Give Warning. Said Was A Good, Professional Driver. Told Hazardous Road."
So, now I am pondering whether I should actually do nothing (because of the full name change/new driving license number etc.) and hope that the matter goes away, or choose the TBD option. Obviously, the main thing putting me off a TBD is that the bail has to be posted. Only if I win or the case is dismissed I will then get the money back, of course.
Thanking you in advance.
Hello,
To begin with, I am not a US citizen and it was my first time in the U.S. My personal circumstances have recently changed and I now have a new full name and new driving license number etc.
Very almost exactly six months ago I was stopped on the SR-1. The CHP officer said that I was doing about 70 in a 55 MPH zone. I did not argue or admit any guilt, but politely ask that he give me a warning. I wanted to co-operate and hoped that if I did then I might be more likely to be let off with a warning and so when he asked if I had my driving license, I did hand it to him (someone later on Pismo Beach said that I should have said that I didn't have it with me). He did, however, say that there is a big difference in the bail/fine for going 15 MPH over as opposed to 5-10 MPH (or something along those lines). So, he wrote a citation out (The Vehicle Code is 22349(b)).
Upon returning to the UK, I contacted the Court. I was told that it takes four weeks for the citation to be loaded onto the system. I waited and called back. Someone then said that I can contact California Highway Patrol and ask for a "discovery request". Although someone at CHP kind of strangely asked me to fax the request for this, I then received (via email because I had written my email on the faxed paper) scan of front and rear of CHP's copy of the citation, traffic radar certification test data, radar calibration charts & logs, certificate of attainments for the officer's radar & lidar operation. I was expecting to see evidence of the alleged speeding infraction, but I could not see any (maybe there is no evidence). I wrote to the Courthouse politely asking that the citation be cancelled. They swiftly wrote back and had reduced the bail by about 50%, yet there was still no evidence of the alleged speeding. I wrote back again and this time included printouts of what I received from CHP in response to the discovery request. They wrote back and are now basically stating that I can either post the reduced bail OR request a court trial or trial by declaration. Of course, US law requires defendants basically pay the fine before the trial etc.
I understand that many prefer the TBD option because it means that the officer won't be going into court in person (therefore no $300+ payment) and so many officers sometimes don't bother submitting their own TBD. Even though it was six months ago I reckon that that officer will probably remember stopping me (non-US citizen) on the Pacific Coast Highway - he also wrote his own notes on the rear of the citation (maybe to refresh his memory in case of trials etc.?). I couldn't read what he wrote so asked the person at CHP via email to see if it could be deciphered. The notes read, "Est 70 Radar Same Rapidly Catching Slower Group 400' Ahead. Conv w/ Top Down. Thought Extortion. Said Not That Fast & I Could Give Warning. Said Was A Good, Professional Driver. Told Hazardous Road."
So, now I am pondering whether I should actually do nothing (because of the full name change/new driving license number etc.) and hope that the matter goes away, or choose the TBD option. Obviously, the main thing putting me off a TBD is that the bail has to be posted. Only if I win or the case is dismissed I will then get the money back, of course.
Thanking you in advance.
Speeding Tickets: Trial by [Written] Declaration or Otherwise
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