Texas troopers lying about motorcycle speeds?

Nowhere in the curriculum do we teach traffic law, nor do we ever

Actually, it's meant to teach them how to maneuver their bikes around a
parking lot at speeds under 20 mph. Not that it's a bad skill set. It's
just that it has little to do with traffic at road speeds.

(10 time attendee of MSF, BTW)

 

Better that than them spending the money to drag even MORE victims
through the system. It WILL be spent. It's just a matter of HOW. In
this case, getting them to expend it against one defendant instead of
100 is MUCH better IMO.

 

BINGO!

--

Mark Johnson, Fort Worth, Texas; IBA #?; CM #1; DoD #2021
2003 FJR1300 "E²"

http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org

 

The main reason for all the filings for discovery are that they cost
their "system" to produce the required information (time, salaries,
dublication costs, recording of responses to RFI's, etc.). Since the
bottom line is, as we all know, revenue and not safety, the more it
costs them to get your $200 file, the more you dip into their profits.
When it costs them $2000 to make $200 it's not long before they start
looking elsewhere.

Good point too.
--

Mark Johnson, Fort Worth, Texas; IBA #?; CM #1; DoD #2021
2003 FJR1300 "E²"

http://www.bikes-n-spikes.org

 

Or if you play hardball and make some effort to defend yourself, you can end
up with :
http://www.moto-rama.com/dis_missed.jpg

There may be jurisdictions where it might be more difficult to obtain a
dismissal, but with some effory you can beat even the "big" ones.

 

LOL.. I totally agree.. I waged a running war with the police department in
Irving, where I live for a number of years.. Those guys were stopping me for
various "infractions" almost on a weekly basis.. I paid a couple of them and
then decided to fight.. I won a few and lost a few.. rest assured, I became
their worst nightmare when I appeared in court.. The tickets against me
became so cost prohibitive, the city attorney commenced responding by
advising the court "failed to prosecute".. LMAO.. It became a "soap opera"
because when I would appear, I would talk to the other "criminals" who were
there to appear.. My wife got a ticket and was terrified, as she had just
received her "green card" and a first time drivers license.. I walked her
through the system and the ticket was dismissed .. A few times when I
recognize one of the ticket writers on the Irving PD.. I would bait him..
Most turn their heads and pretend they don't see me.. LOL..Maybe there is
some way they can identify the ones who consistently dispute tickets.. I
don't know.. it sure appears that way in my home city.. LOL.. Good post
Doc..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

rongg..read Brownse posts...thats world class advice, and it works real
well...

Phil Scott

 

I defended a speeding ticket in Grandview.. The judge ruled against me ..
After it was finished, the city attorney commented that she admired my
defense and declared that it was the most impressive one that she had seen..
She even declined to question me as I took the stand in my defense.. The
judge also made similar comments.. I asked them both, in that case why the
judge ruled against me..Don't remember the exact words, but the judge said
that "it was his job".. in so many words.. He went furthur and said that I
would probably prevail in the County Court.. I didn't pursue the action
furthur since all agreed not to put the ticket on my driving record.. Later
I passed through Grandview and had lunch with the city attorney.. She told
me that some of the policies had changed since hearing my case.. Each cloud
has a silver lining.. BTW.. the chief of police was in the court and he
assured me that Grandview was in the process of examining their policy for
victimizing motorists on the section of IH 35.. Have a good one, Doc..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

a few jury trials with other drivers on the juries would cure them of that.

Phil Scott

 

Exactly.. I have fought and prevailed on some tickets in Ft.Worth.. One was
a parking ticket which I received along with a moving violation.. The thing
was in the system for almost a year and a half.. The officer was extremely
dumb.. Just by virtue of the fact that I was fighting the tickets so
vigorously, was unreal to him.. When he took the stand, he lied and
continued to lie throughout the questioning.. When it began to really become
apparent to everyone in the courtroom, that this officer was dumb as a rock
and was not justified in issueing the citations, and furthur was lying
through his teeth, the judge stopped the thing rather than to allow it to
continue.. She dismissed the ticket and wished me well..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

That simply stuns me...did you know that the code of eithics at hospitals
calls for not approving organ donations in the US if there is a financial
incentive? thats so poor people cannot be harvested for organs under
economic durress..yet Wisconsin is doing just that?

someone should tell them a man with one kidney fares poorly if he gets
diabetes and many other illnesses, so the organ donor tax thing will
backfire in the end as he can no longer work and pay taxes, but must go on
public assistance....but then again, some needing organs are burocrats and
we must not stand in the way of that.

The time has come for anyone not wishing to be bled to death to husband all
of his resources, including now blood and organs very carefully
now...especially from govt.




Phil Scott

 

Or, you could just give it to a reputable ticket clinic, and forget it.

However, I will tell a brief story that I personally witnessed in the
Dallas traffic court.

An individual was trying a speeding offense, and I was watching.
I don't recall the numbers, but let's say the ticket was for 60mph.

This may sound like the defendant was crafty, but nothing could
be further from the truth. I really don't think he had a clue what
he was doing. Somehow during defendant/officer cross, it became
known that the officer had given the defendant a break by issuing
a 60mph ticket, rather than the 80mph version which would have
reflected the defendant's true speed. The Judge took hold on this,
and began to question the officer personally about this event.

After determining the fact of the officer's 20mph break with 60mph
ticket rather than 80, he dismissed the case right there.

I guess it makes sense. it's like a "flaw" dismissal, where the location
is wrong, license number wrong, name wrong, etc, but I would have
never thought a speeding citation would be dismissed because it was
issued under the terms of compassion. I'll bet that officer doesn't
offer anyone a "break" on ticket speed any more. And, this may be
the reason why an officer would turn a deaf ear to one's request of
a lower reported speed.


Thanks - Gary

 

You're right, I guess. I(being represented) had my contest rescheduled
because the officer(who did show) could not be held over to the delayed
hearing time.

some previous cases had run overtime, and my hearing, as were others, had
been pushed back. Everybody was there for my case, and ready. However, at
the last minute, the officer says that he thinks his commitment to officiate
at a child's sporting event will be compromised if he's kept for/through my
hearing. The judge let him go, and rescheduled my case. It took about 6
months to get back to the hearing. My attorney was livid, and exhibited a
dedicated vendetta for that case, in which he finally prevailed.

Because he(my attorney) had been so diligent, and successful for me
throughout these events, I paid his feed again as appreciation.


Gary

 

I think you should find an attorney in your area whose specialty is
defending traffic violations and has a successful track record with the
agency in question.

I used to go to court myself, explain circumstances and all that, and would
end up paying a reduced fine on a reduced charge, but still it would come
back to bite me in the ass when my insurance was up for renewal. And then it
would bite me again every year until the ticket dropped off the insurance
company's radar after the 3rd year. But it seemed every 18 months or so, I'd
end up getting pulled over again for doing 15 over on the interstate. And in
my experience, once the trooper pulls up your record and sees that you have
prior citations, there's no chance in hell of getting let off with a
warning.

A few years ago some of my riding buddies talked me into hiring a local
attorney who's basically a hired gun for all sorts of traffic offenses. I've
retained this individual's services no fewer than 4 times in the last 3
years, and so far I've defeated every ticket with the lawyer's help. The
lawyer goes to court in my place, so I don't have to take a day off work,
and my insurance premiums don't get jacked up for the next 3 years. To top
it off, now that my record is pretty much clean, I've gotten let off with
warnings a couple of times.

One of the times I was cited it was completely bogus. I'd been going UNDER
the posted limit and hit an oil slick in the middle of a turn. The front
tire washed out in the oil and the bike and I went down. A motorist stopped,
called 911, and then told the responding State Patrol officer that I'd been
riding "very fast". As evidence he further stated that I'd been leaning fast
enough so that my motorcycle was "leaned over". No shit, dumb-ass. That's
how bikes turn! Anyway, the officer wrote me a ticket, even though he didn't
witness anything, and even though I had two of my own witnesses riding with
me who contested the idiot's story. Total bullshit. But even though I
perfectly in the right and had witnesses and photos to prove it, I handed
the mess to my attorney, simply because I don't trust our legal system to be
truthful and fair. I could just see myself getting found guilty in court,
despite all my evidence and witnesses. Ridiculous, but very possible.

For simple speeding my attorney has a flat rates, varying somewhat based on
where you were cited. If she has to travel to another county for court, the
rates go up. But still, the fee is reasonable, and is considerably less than
I'd pay for the fine plus all the increased insurance costs over the next
few years.

I'll bet you could find such a person in your area.

 

And WAY better than them actually having money for officers
to put onto other crimes. Heaven forbid they actually
catch a car thief or something. Much better to have those
officers in court than on the streets doing things.

 

Around here, the fine on the ticket is the "suggested
fine". Courts have the ability to increase the fine to
some (higher) pre-set maximum. I had a friend fight a
ticket (which he had deserved). He did a "less than
stellar" job of it, and ended up paying double the fine.
The judge figured he was just trying to waste everyone's
time.

 

BWAHAHAHAAAHAAHAAAAHHAHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!<snortchuckle>

Thanks man. I'm sure the folks over at moving violations are gonna get
the same kinda laugh from a sportbike knucklehead alleging that he was
speeding, "just not as much as the ossyfer sez I wuz... duuuuuh!"

 

You should have checked the G.P.S. discreetly
then showed him ))

 

Because they ARE spending "their" money. The money they'd have to pay
more overtime, clerk wages, equipment and other things they "want" that
drive their escellation of ticketing as revenue in the first place.

 

Like writing up people to increase revenue. Ya think if their budget
was affected that they would have the wolf-packs running while their
crime stats went unaddressed?