What jurisdiction was the cop from? City, county of state and which one?

Georgia has an anti-speed trap law and in most places you have to be going a minimum of 10 mph over before they can give you anything.
There are a few exceptions so read up on this laws that has been in existence for a few decades here (Lester Maddox first passed it when he realized they were killing the tourist business).

I'd find a local lawyer as showing up to argue the case will probably get you nowhere.

Here's a good list of to start with an an attorney website.

https://www.ralphhensley.com/speeding-in-georgia

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
Don't buckle, go to court and present your case. Step one send a letter CMRR to the police agency and the DAs office and state you want a "Litigation Hold" on the device used to check speeding. Ask for the devices calibration for accurarcy to determine if it was within the acceptable dates. There may be a state administrative rule that sets those dates. If the device is not within compliance before the trail begins make a motion in limine to keep that data out and prohibit the officer from mentioning it and any results. Go to court with your phone data. If you can transfer the data to a format to be played on a lap top screen it would make the presentation easier to undestand. Dress respectfully but don't look rich. If the police officer testifies ask him/her only leading questions. Have a short and clean opening statement / closing argument. At the end of the states's case make a motion to dismss. Good luck, beating a ticket can be done. No matter what hold you head up high and be respectful.

This is the answer.
In NC I had to have my radar calibrated annually, the PD held the paperwork, (so you may have to send a letter for that), I had to test the unit every morning to verify it was working properly and after each enforcement use(it’s called a tuning fork test).also the forks are serialized and as assigned to a particular radar unit by serial number-done during the annual cert. So in your questioning I’d ask for him to run over that process.

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He didn't say he clocked me. He said his radar picked up 71 mph and 'I' was the only car he saw on the road

Did his radar just flash 71 or did it lock at 71? I ask because I was pulled over once and the deputy admitted the radar didn’t lock in my speed. The truth was I was going quite a bit faster than what he said his radar flashed. He wrote me up for failure to obey a sign rather than a speeding ticket and/or reckless driving. I happily accepted that.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:

I'd find a local lawyer as showing up to argue the case will probably get you nowhere.

This is an expense, but the way I'd go. The cost is likely to come to less than any fine, surcharge, and hit to your insurance premium.

It's still a bummer that you have to go through the motions.

If clocked by radar then request documented calibration records and certification documents for the officer operator... I know we had to calibrate at the start of the shift and at at the end of the shift and record method of calibration..(tuning fork method)(MikeinNC post above)... Be careful of the good old boy network system not up to date on the new tech way of using the cell phones for tacking your speed... Might be easier to just pay up and avoid the hassle. Best of luck.. drill sgt.

Congratulations on finding out that most cops today just aren't trustworthy.

10 years ago, I wouldn't have said that but reflecting the past 34 years I've been in Emergency Services (EMS and Fire) I can tell you I don't trust law enforcement at all, not even a little bit.

Personally I would fight the ticket.

I have learned to always exercise your fifth amendment right when dealing with the police. Anything you say can and will be used against you.

I would have just kept quiet and hope he writes it for the higher speed. Then when you show up with your proof, the bigger discrepancy would show up his mistake.

So here's my bit of advise. If it's the city that got you, in Georgia, you can request that it be moved to state court. If this happens to be one of the municipal revenue scams, the state court will be much more likely to be objective and kick it out. You will have to show up to the municipal court to request the transfer.

I had a run in with a local pd that was notorious for revenue schemes. I had my case transferred to state court and they sent me a letter stating that they refused to prosecute due to lack of evidence, and that my case was dismissed.

The police have begun to treat us as the enemy once again.

As has been noted GET A LAWYER!!! Because traffic Courts are biased against the general public. As a result they will allow the DA to do things that legally can't be done, such as modify prior testimony. Way back in the 80's I got a ticket for speeding because I wanted to get by a suspect drunk driver as quickly as possible. In court I had the officer testify that he determined his vehicle speed using the speedometer and admit that he didn't know if that speedometer was calibrated. At that point I should have demanded an immediate dismissal of all charges but I didn't because I am not a Lawyer. The judge allowed the DA to modify the officers testimony and allowed him to state that he had confirmed that his speedometer did agree with the patrol window of the radar unit at the start of his shift. As for the tuning fork test, that was standard at start of shift for the Ohio Highway patrol and in this particular case that tuning fork had been tested and calibrated 2 weeks before that speed citation.

I would also suggest getting a Garmin Dashcam. Because they record the full time the car is moving and you can pull up video sections by time if you do it within 24 hours or a bit more. Those video's will log in your GPS determined speed at every moment. Which means that you have a method that records your visual location with time and speed.

One other thing to look into is if a radar based speed detection system can be triggered by birds. If they can that speed flash may have been a bird. I also have a vague memory that that radar can sometimes be triggered by cooling fans and wheel spinners.

Do you know for a fact that it was radar, and not laser? Could it be possible that he obtained your speed 10 seconds before the phone timestamp you displayed? Could he have obtained your speed before your saw him and reacted by "I tap my brake"? In Florida, it is my understanding that the issuing agency of a traffic ticket only receives $1 for each ticket, which likely eliminates "toll booth" ticketing. How are ticket proceeds distributed in Georgia?

quote:

Originally posted by sigarms229:

10 years ago, I wouldn't have said that...

I don't think this is a coincidence. It was the fall of 2013, when a national "open season" on police officers was declared. I am sure this has contributed to a decline in applicant numbers and quality.

.

Exact same kind of situation happened to me about 10 yrs ago in Phoenix, right by my house. No way in the world I was going 63 in a 45 zone while approaching a red light on a stone cold old air-cooled engine. I had just fired up the car and left my house two minutes earlier. I didn't argue, just went and did my research. Turns out AZ has a law that a speed limit is invalid if no road study has been done on that road. And - ta da - I got an email from the city trans. dept. stating that section of Tatum Blvd. had not had a road study done. So in that case the speed limit defaults to "reasonable and prudent up to 65mph, conditions permitting." Since he got me at 63, I was below the R&P limit. I went to court, all prepared and, well, the cop no-showed. They waited for him, but he didn't come and I was dismissed.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
Exact same kind of situation happened to me about 10 yrs ago in Phoenix, right by my house. No way in the world I was going 63 in a 45 zone while approaching a red light on a stone cold old air-cooled engine. I had just fired up the car and left my house two minutes earlier. I didn't argue, just went and did my research. Turns out AZ has a law that a speed limit is invalid if no road study has been done on that road. And - ta da - I got an email from the city trans. dept. stating that section of Tatum Blvd. had not had a road study done. So in that case the speed limit defaults to "reasonable and prudent up to 65mph, conditions permitting." Since he got me at 63, I was below the R&P limit. I went to court, all prepared and, well, the cop no-showed. They waited for him, but he didn't come and I was dismissed.

as i recall pv was the 1st to use radar on tatum/lincoln drive, i've been in phoenix for 40+ years!!

pv is the only jurisdiction in the valley that i'm dead-on the speed limit....still a speed trap!!

This won't help you now, but might in the future. After a similar bogus speeding ticket in Martindale, TX - a notorious speedtrap - I got a dashcam with GPS, including speed and GPS coordinates on the recording. Haven't needed it in the five years I've had it, but it is reassuring that it is there.

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
Exact same kind of situation happened to me about 10 yrs ago in Phoenix, right by my house. No way in the world I was going 63 in a 45 zone while approaching a red light on a stone cold old air-cooled engine. I had just fired up the car and left my house two minutes earlier. I didn't argue, just went and did my research. Turns out AZ has a law that a speed limit is invalid if no road study has been done on that road. And - ta da - I got an email from the city trans. dept. stating that section of Tatum Blvd. had not had a road study done. So in that case the speed limit defaults to "reasonable and prudent up to 65mph, conditions permitting." Since he got me at 63, I was below the R&P limit. I went to court, all prepared and, well, the cop no-showed. They waited for him, but he didn't come and I was dismissed.

as i recall pv was the 1st to use radar on tatum/lincoln drive, i've been in phoenix for 40+ years!!

pv is the only jurisdiction in the valley that i'm dead-on the speed limit....still a speed trap!!

I have a nice photo radar printout on my office wall from PV. You can blow those off and PV don't bother with process servers or alternate service like Scottsdale does. 120 days and it goes away.

If you're sure you're right, go to court, present your evidence, and make your case. It's absolutely your right, and this is the reason traffic court exists. Cops are human, too, working with imperfect equipment, and sometimes mistakes get made.

I don't write tickets often, and only do so if I'm 100% sure of what I saw. It's far from my favorite part of the job, but it is part of the job. For speed I make sure I document the radar tracking history, weather conditions, and surrounding traffic conditions, as well as testing my radar against the forks immediately after the stop.

I don't mind going to court (especially now that I'm on days), I never no-show, and show up prepared with video and documentation. I don't even get offended at people who try to contest the citations I wrote, provided they're honest about it and don't try to lie about what I did or what happened. The vast majority of mine that have gone to court end up changing their plea after the prosecutor plays the video. Some of those probably just realize they can't beat it, but I think there is definitely a portion who legitimately think they weren't doing what I said they were doing (maybe weren't paying attention, not aware of their surroundings, etc.) until the video shows them my perspective.

I had one lady who I wrote for failing to change lanes, blowing by my lit-up squad at speed and almost hitting a wrecker driver. She argued on the stop that she'd done none of that and took me to court. It was clear as day on the video, and she apologized and admitted it was clear what she'd done. I believe to this day that she was distracted and legitimately never noticed that we were there....which is pretty scary.

Oh, and the whole "roadside tax collector" things is BS. Our department sees next to nothing from citation dollars (I think it's a couple of bucks from the state into the training budget, IIRC), and we are not pressured into or rewarded in any way for writing infraction tickets for stuff that's not a direct danger to the public (turning a blind eye to stuff like 25+ over through a residential neighborhood, or somebody passing a stopped schoolbus with the arm out would probably come back to bite you). There's absolutely zero for an officer or department to gain from writing a citation for something that didn't happen.

quote:

The police have begun to treat us as the enemy once again.

100% truth.

quote:

Oh, and the whole "roadside tax collector" things is BS. Our department sees next to nothing from citation dollars

Easy way around that. A few years ago, a local cop pulled me over doing 62 in a 55, traveling last in a group of vehicles just keeping up. Cop says "I'm going to cut you a break and cite you for a local ordinance violation instead of the moving violating. Fine is the same but no points and nothing on your traffic record."

Well I realized later why he did that. Had he done the moving violation, they would have received about 10% of the $150 fine. Since he did a local ordinance violation, the municipality he works for got like 90% of the $150 fine. What a scam.

quote:

There's absolutely zero for an officer or department to gain from writing a citation for something that didn't happen.

Absolutely not true. They (the department) gain funds. They ( they officers) get to watch people squirm or laugh when they get angry after being falsely accused. Now had you said "There's absolutely zero for an HONEST officer or TRUSTWORTHY department to gain" then I would have agreed. Unfortunately most officers don't fall into the "honest" category and the same goes with most departments not falling into the "trustworthy" category.

quote:

most officers don't fall into the "honest" category and the same goes with most departments not falling into the "trustworthy" category.

I'd like to see your stats to support the statement that MOST officers and/or agencies are dishonest.

I'm around far more cops than the average person, and while I've definitely known some assholes, even those guys wouldn't lie to write a ticket. There's just not anything for an officer to gain, and everything to lose, especially these days with cameras everywhere.

I've been on the other side of the traffic stop numerous times myself as well, and have been cited, but only when I deserved it.

Really great thread so far. Posters have stepped in and said police are criminals, untrustworthy and treat the public as the enemy.
Because the OP may have gotten an unwarranted ticket.
Any clue yet why cops are quitting in droves and recruitment is down? BS like what has been said here is reason. Bad cops in your locale? Then take what action (mainly by calling attention to the situation) you need to clean up your agency.
How many times do you think law enforcement contacts citizens in the course of a 24 hour day? Hundreds of thousands of times. Are you saying that every one of those contacts are excessive or unlawful? By a criminal gang? The same opinions expressed here mirror the ACAB slogan that rioters used. Are you aligning yourselves with them? So... lets get rid of the cops entirely. Think things will suddenly and miraculously improve? You want perfect cops, taking perfect actions to enforce perfect laws with perfect results.
Yeah, that will happen!