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Go Vols! |
Let’s say there’s an ordinance that says you can’t drive within 1000 feet of a tree. You get pulled over and given a ticket that says you drove within 300 feet of the tree. Your gps shows otherwise. A judge might look at it and say it was 950 feet but it damn sure wasn’t 300! Still a violation but barely and damn sure not what’s being alleged. Would you pay a $150 ticket and move on with life or go to court and make it known the officer makes incorrect allegations, even if there’s a 90% chance of still paying the ticket. I have something similar going on and I’m obsessing about it to the point it’s become quite a distraction. | ||
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| Member |
Money vs time vs principle. I'd probably cut my losses and pay the $150 if I was still in the wrong. You're asking the judge to correct the record that you're not quite as wrong as alleged. Will the judge be pissed at the cop for lying or at you for being the dingus arguing over just how in the wrong you are? Does it really matter? You might get a small win for your own sense of justice if the officer's guesstimation is proved wrong but you'll still be on the hook for the money and the time spent obsessing over it and waiting around in court. Is that really a win? I'd get over it and move on life. | |||
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| Member |
Without more facts, I would say its your duty as a citizen to fight any kind of improper allegation made against you. After all, its in everyone's interest to see that fair and just enforcement applies to everyone. Only you can make the judgement of whether or not this is important enough to go through the process of fighting. End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles | |||
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| Green grass and high tides  |
all I can offer is that years ago I had a officer pull me over. He said I was doing 60mph in a 45 zone. I was under 50mph. I had a car in front of me and behind me. The officer was one car behind me. It was a real head scratcher. My only explanation was the officer was hoping to find something in plain sight that would lead to problems for me. No such luck. I contested and the judge dismissed the ticket I received. I have never had anything similar. "Practice like you want to play in the game" | |||
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| The Ice Cream Man |
This. Done it myself. | |||
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| Member |
The hypothetical, in the way you phrased it, does not make much sense to me. If it were an infraction to drive within 1000 feet of a tree, you violated whether you were 950 or 300. And the offense is not serious, so the degree of violation really doesn't matter. Now if you are talking about something more serious, where the degree of your violation did matter, that could be a different story. You need to provide actual details if you want a real answer. | |||
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Drug Dealer |
On the other hand, sometimes it's just better to accept the fact that the world is an unfair place and move on. You can spend a lotta time and a lot more than $150 on a fight that nobody but you gives a shit about. (I'm just filling in for jhe888, who's off today.  )When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw | |||
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Drill Here, Drill Now |
Sounds like it's a matter of principle. When I moved to Houston for the first time, I got pulled over about 3 hours west of nowhere doing 78 in a 75. Officer damn near rolled his cruiser driving through the median to switch from westbound to eastbound to give me my ticket. Little Napolean (5 foot nothing) comes storming up to my car and demands to know, "what is your damn hurry?" I calmly replied that I had my cruise set on 78 and he screams back, "I repeat, what is your damn hurry?" Piece of shit wrote me up for 82 and refused to let me see the readout on the radar gun. Probably would've been cheaper to pay the ticket, but it became a matter of principle so I used my buddy's ticket lawyer to get deferred adjudication. Letting that lying piece of shit's 82 on my record just wasn't an option for me. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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Ammoholic |
If it somehow affects you, fight it. If it's a Pyrrhic victory don't waste your time. A day off work costs me $250 after taxes. Anything under $500, I'm not fighting, even if I'm in the right. From your analogy, you aren't arguing if you were in the wrong, but rather to which degree your were wrong. Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. Jesse Sic Semper Tyrannis | |||
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| Drill Here, Drill Now |
I didn't miss a moment's work. One 5 minute phone call had everything in motion, and one quick phone call told me the results. All it cost me was the modest fee for the ticket lawyer and the deferred adjudication fee. I would not have done it if I had to take a day off, drive 6 hours, go to court, and drive 6 hours back to Houston. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer. | |||
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| 10mm is The Boom of Doom  |
1000 feet back? Sounds more like a restraining order. God Bless and Protect the Once and Future President, Donald John Trump. | |||
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| Member |
How often does your GPS update speed? Most are far from real time. We have had numerous occasions where a supervisor has tried to jam an officer for driving too fast through an intersection when responding to a call for service when what really happened was the slow refresh rate on the GPS speed readout in the video was getting an average. So say you were cruising along within 300 feet of this tree, but upon seeing the officer, you increased your distance to 1200 feet. An average over a specific period of time might fall in the middle. A lot of the times they see you well before you see them. | |||
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| Member |
Michigan has a law that it is illegal to drive within 1000 feet of a School with a firearm unless you have a CPL. BTW, for this particular bit of "law" just having a bare stripped receiver locked in your trunk is enough to earn you a citation. I've stopped counting. | |||
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| Member |
Can you direct me to the specific Michigan law (MCL number) to which you are referring? The reason I ask this question is because MCL 750.237a, the statute which seems most relevant to your claim, does not say anything about driving within 1000 feet of a school. https://www.legislature.mi.gov...ectName=mcl-750-237a | |||
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| Go Vols! |
This isn’t firearms related. It is a minor civil infraction issue, like a speeding ticket but involving distance. The facts are an exact analogy. I don’t think it was intentional by the officer but I think they are using distance measuring equipment that does not meet comparable standards that apply to things like a speed detection radar. | |||
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Nosce te ipsum |
Draw it on a large format, print it at Kinko's (36" x 24" is $4), and show it to the judge. Everyone has their day in court. | |||
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| Member |
In my opinion, you should always go to court in Michigan when you receive a civil infraction ticket. Requesting a formal hearing gives you a chance to sit down with the local prosecutor and you will almost always get a reduction in the offense as long as your record is OK and you weren't an ass to the officer. Again, just reading your analogy - by the terms of the offense you are guilty (or "responsible" in the parlance of civil infractions). So this isn't some grand fight for justice. This is going in and taking the best deal you can get. | |||
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Fortified with Sleestak |
As others have said you have to weigh the cost of your time. If you've got the time and and a respectful attitude the worst that can happen is additional court costs. I once received a ticket for a dead inspection on my vehicle. No two ways about it, the inspection was past due. I was at fault. I had some extenuating circumstances as to why I hadn't been able to get the inspection completed. I explained it to the officer and then received my ticket. I showed up in court. The officer was visibly perturbed that I appeared instead of just paying it and the judge saw it. When the judge asked the officer if I had given any reason for not having the inspection completed yet the officer MISREPRESENTED what I had explained to him. I was visibly shocked by the testimony and the judge saw it. When I was given the chance to explain my situation I respectfully stated, "As I explained to the officer at the time",.....and proceeded to tell my story. The Judge explained the necessity of the state knowing that vehicles are safe and inquired if the vehicle had subsequently been inspected. I stated it had. Judge waived the ticket and I think I paid something like 25 bucks in court costs. The point is that you can state your case respectfully and the judge might give you a break or he might not. It's not like you're gonna get in more trouble by showing up for your day in court. I have the heart of a lion.......and a lifetime ban from the Toronto Zoo.- Unknown | |||
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| Member |
Your own evidence proves, beyond all doubt, that you violated the infraction. And their allegation does not enhance the violation. And you still want to "fight it"? Reminds me of a client I once represented, that was all bitter, said that he didnt shoot the victim, just stomped his head when he was on the ground.....he never got the fact that it was still an aggravated battery. But he got his day in court...... | |||
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