Trial by Written Declaration Concern

[BigJim_610]

I received a speeding ticket that I have plead not guilty to. I sent the court the following letter along with the full bail amount.

Pursuant to California Penal Code sections 1054 and 1054.1, and California Government Code section 26500, the defendant in the above entitled matter does hereby request under discovery the following and Per Vehicle Code section 40902(a) and Rule of Court 4.210(b)(2), I am hereby requesting a trial by written declaration.

 A copy of the engineering and traffic survey for xxxxx Road required by section 40802 of the California Vehicle Code, and any other documentation necessary to prove that this is not a speed trap as defined in Vehicle Code section 40802;
 A copy of all records regarding the maintenance and calibration of the radar/laser unit used in this case
 A copy of each and every certification issued to Officer CHP involving the use of said radar/laser unit;
 A copy of all of Officer CHP’s notes on this case including copies of the front and back of the officer’s copy of the ticket

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Me

The court never responded.

I sent two certified letters to the court requesting they find me not guilty because the CHP and the court never responded.

The court finally responded flatly finding me guilty and informing me I can file a Trial de Novo if I like.

Shouldn't I be found not guilty by the default of the CHP not responding to my written requests?

Thank you,

BigJim

[jmzhwells]

I guarantee the CHP did not receive the info, cuz u didnt sent it to their office, and the court didnt forward it. You can send it to the CHP office before you go to court for trial. Then if they dont bring it you are not guilty by default. The ETS might not be necessary based on the speed on the road, if its a max speed, nothing is required, its max.

[Samuelx]

The last TBD I had, required that I submit my "side" to the court, not to the person I ticketed. Maybe the officer submitted that paperwork to the court. I'm not a traffic guy...

[Unit74]

It may be possible the CHP Officer received a TBD and submitted it. Based upon this they may have found you guilty.

Who knows. But if you don't think you were speeding keep the process going. I would put money on it that unless you come up with some significant error in equipment or training issues you are going to be found guilty. I guess it all depends on how much time you really want to spend on it.

[BigJim_610]

Actually the CHP told me he was real busy and I thought he might not have time to fill out the paper work.

Why would I need to send the info to the CHP? The summons indicated it needed to go to Superior Court and that is what I did. My question remains, if the CHP did not respond to my written and on time request I should be found not quilty. Otherwise why go through the whole drill?

[winnre]

You submit your side to the court and the court asked the CHP to send his side. If anyone drops the ball (but you) that works in your favor.

If enough people did this they'd have to find a new way to tax people.

[Ron-Solo]

Also, some courts do not do a trial by declaration.

I also suggest you read the actual defination of a speed trap in the vehicle code. It involves timing cars between fixed points to determine speed, not the use of radar or lasers.

Most LA County traffic courts have the current speed and traffic surveys on file and take what is refered to as "Judicial Notice" on matters related to the speed and traffic surveys, since cities post speed limits based on those surveys.

[jmzhwells]

Actually the CHP told me he was real busy and I thought he might not have time to fill out the paper work.

Why would I need to send the info to the CHP? The summons indicated it needed to go to Superior Court and that is what I did. My question remains, if the CHP did not respond to my written and on time request I should be found not quilty. Otherwise why go through the whole drill?

If you were found guilty then the CHP did submit the info to the court. If the court forwarded all the info to the CHP and he gave it all back then ur guilty. If you send the discovery to the court, and not the CHP office CHP never got it. Like the others have said, you send in your side, CHP sends in theirs. If you want to do the discovery thing, then Im pretty sure you will have to do that at trail in front of a Judge.

[winnre]

If you were found guilty then the CHP did submit the info to the court. If the court forwarded all the info to the CHP and he gave it all back then ur guilty. If you send the discovery to the court, and not the CHP office CHP never got it. Like the others have said, you send in your side, CHP sends in theirs. If you want to do the discovery thing, then Im pretty sure you will have to do that at trail in front of a Judge.

I had a CHP ticket, did trial by declaration, found guilty, fought that, and found out the CHP officer was deployed to Iraq and never did see the paperwork.