I absolutely disagree with what you're saying. Most judges are
reasonable, and put the burden of proof on the officer, not the
defendant- as is required by law.
The judge also has the power to adjust sentencing to make the punishment
fit the crime. For example, over a year ago in Oregon I got a ticket for
running snow tires out of season. What I was doing was illegal, and I
admitted it to the judge- but pleaded not guilty (the only option which
gets you to court) because it had in fact snowed a few days earlier, and
I had put the tires on just for that snow storm, and had then been out
of town and didn't have time to change them back. The judge found me
guilty, but reduced the fine to the absolute minimum (from about $150 to
like $10).
If you are professional, courteous and reasonable, and don't contradict
the officers testimony (calling him a liar) but instead explain the
circumstances surrounding your actions, most judges will give you the
minimum sentence the law allows them to.
Tyler
Hendrik & Fay wrote:
Best off to just pay the thing, question is did you miss the sign or
was the sign that badly vandalized that any reasonable person would
not be able to make out what it was.
What is the basis of your challenge? That there was only one partially
obscured sign?
You have to consider that a court will not go against an officer of
the law unless you can absolutely prove that the issuing of the ticket
was wrong. Can you do this?
I recently got a red light running ticket in my truck, situation was
that a bus had partially pulled into my lane whilst wanting to turn at
the traffic lights, there was a car to my left and I was busy watching
my mirrors and the bus to see how far over I could go, in order to not
hit the car or bus. By the time I saw that the lights where just about
to turn red it was too late to safely stop.
I could go to court and explain the circumstances but the court would
most likely say that given my experience I should have done better and
stopped the truck if it was unsafe to proceed.
Hendrik
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