LEO's and court appearances

[REVIT9K]

To make a long story short, I received a speeding ticket about 100 miles north of Barstow on the I-15. I was cited for going 90 in a 70.

This was back in March.

Using what little knowledge I had of the court systems, I plead not-guilty and waived by right to a speedy trial.

The court appearance was yesterday and the CHP officer didn't show up. Dismissed on a technicality.

So what's up with court appearances? Is it one of those things you guys hate to do? Opportunity to take a day off? Bad mark on your personnel blotter?

[Jonathan Doe]

I receive subpoenas on a daily basis. They are mailny for criminal jury trials. I have testified as an expert witness countless times. If I get a conflicting subpoenas for the same dates, the court does their best to accomodate my schedule.

For traffic tickets, I think they are not very flexible for the officers. If the officer has to go to a criminal trial, the traffic court have to be missed. Or, if the officer has to go to 2 different traffic court on the same date, one may get lucky.

[Unit74]

Court is nice OT and I rarely missed a date. That's odd CHP didn't show up. That is there bread and butter.

[yzErnie]

So what's up with court appearances? Is it one of those things you guys hate to do? Opportunity to take a day off? Bad mark on your personnel blotter?

IMHO, it would be best to just count your lucky stars the officer did not show up and your case was dismissed.

[BigDogatPlay]

Definitely count your lucky stars. In the my neck of the woods the CHP guys used to get in trouble if they blew off a date in traffic court. Don't know if it's still like that with that agency, but they are 'state traffic officers' after all.

The only way I wouldn't show up is if I was on vacation or was tied up in something even more important.

[Ron-Solo]

Also, if he was on duty and had a priority call such as a major accident, that would take priority over traffic court.

Just consider yourself lucky, 90 is an expensive ticket. Please slow down. At 90 MPH, there isn't much room for error. You blow a tire at that speed or hit road debris, it almost always results in an accident with bad results.

[REVIT9K]

IMHO, it would be best to just count your lucky stars the officer did not show up and your case was dismissed.

I've gotten pulled over for driving 10-15 over the speed limit by CHP on two other occasions. Both occasions, I was in the far left lane driving in light traffic.

While I understand that LEO's have a job to do, personal discretion and judgement often times trumps written law.

Is it really worth adding XX more hours of work to our already clogged court systems?

Most CHP officers around the I-15 area issue citations under the assumption that out of towners would rather pay than drive back to that place which in the middle of nowhere.

[yzErnie]

Without any bias toward you or the officer, we are hearing one version of this scenario. A debate of 'letter of he law' vs 'spirit of the law' and whether 'adding more hours to a legal system' vs 'worth it or not' will only end in bad results here. IMHO, the issuing officer thought the violation was worthy of the citation or he would not have written it.

I'd also say with the utmost certainty that the simple fact the officer did not show up in court has nothing to do with relieving the court system from being overburdened. Take your court docket that shows dismissed and frame it because CHP rarely misses court!!

[REVIT9K]

Without any bias toward you or the officer, we are hearing one version of this scenario. A debate of 'letter of he law' vs 'spirit of the law' and whether 'adding more hours to a legal system' vs 'worth it or not' will only end in bad results here. IMHO, the issuing officer thought the violation was worthy of the citation or he would not have written it.

I'd also say with the utmost certainty that the simple fact the officer did not show up in court has nothing to do with relieving the court system from being overburdened. Take your court docket that shows dismissed and frame it because CHP rarely misses court!!

You make a very good point. It is pointless to hear only 1 side of a 2 sided story. Having grown up in middle-class city as a minority with overzealous police force, it's left a bad impression on me. And I've served 15 months in Iraq, so I do have a very healthy understanding of what these guys may experience on their day to day jobs.

Fact of the matter is, our police institution has morphed from an institution's whose job it is to protect and serve to that of protect, serve and issue citation to add to city coffers.

If I blatantly disregarded the law, I have no issue whatsoever in dealing with the consequences. Also, note that I never admitted to driving 90 mph in my original post, I was only cited.

[Triad]

Fact of the matter is, our police institution has morphed from an institution's whose job it is to protect and serve to that of protect, serve and issue citation to add to city coffers.

I disagree with this statement whole-heartedly and take a little personal offense to this.

But god bless America that we can have dissenting opinions.

[Roccobro]

To make a long story short, I received a speeding ticket about 100 miles north of Barstow on the I-15. I was cited for going 90 in a 70.

This was back in March.

Using what little knowledge I had of the court systems, I plead not-guilty and waived by right to a speedy trial.

The court appearance was yesterday and the CHP officer didn't show up. Dismissed on a technicality.

So what's up with court appearances? Is it one of those things you guys hate to do? Opportunity to take a day off? Bad mark on your personnel blotter?

I love court. Federal or County. The look the defendant gives when they've been praying I don't show up and know they are guilty = Priceless.

Justin

[yzErnie]

Fact of the matter is, our police institution has morphed from an institution's whose job it is to protect and serve to that of protect, serve and issue citation to add to city coffers.

An opinion that IMHO is factually insignificant to your receiving a citiation for 90mph in a 70 zone. Again, be happy the officer did not show and you did not "add to city coffers". Move on from this and enjoy the better things of your life.

[REVIT9K]

An opinion that IMHO is factually insignificant to your receiving a citiation for 90mph in a 70 zone. Again, be happy the officer did not show and you did not "add to city coffers". Move on from this and enjoy the better things of your life.

Ahhh, you see I never admitted to doing 90 mph's. Quite honestly I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. I had the cruise control set on 70 the whole time and gave it a bit extra on an up-hill. He was parked at the bottom of the hill. Real good use of police resources.

So your response is moot.

You see that's the great thing about this country. Everybody is innocent until proven guilty.

They place unrealistic financial burden on ordinary citizens during one of the greatest recessions since the Great Depression.

Am I wrong to challenge our police institution?

I'm a war-time veteran, I have honorably served 15 months in Baghdad, Iraq. I understand what responsibility is placed on these guys. But to deny that there isn't a financial incentive to issue citations naive.

They play on peoples fear and general culpability of the police institution. Once again, I was part of the military institution. I knew there were written rules and regulations for everything.

I asked for a continuation and waived my right to a speedy trial. I had a prepared statement for the judge. If the CHP officer didn't show up, that's not chalking it up to " you got lucky, now run along and don't do it again " it's a matter of the CHP officer not wanting to show up to a court trial from a citation he issued 7 months back. How many citations has he issued since? Now, how many of those citations are actually challenged for court appearances? You see where I'm going here. Most people would rather settle by paying the fine.

I had every right to challenge this citation regardless of the merits of this case. Hell, we all now what sort of red-carpet treatments celebrities get. They have high priced lawyers who understand legal loopholes and technicalities to get their clients off the hook. Compared to an individual who might need counseling and help, and ends up in our prison institution. We all know how successful our prisons are.
Am I still wrong here?

[meangreen46]

Is driving 90 mph in a 70 mph posted zone illegal? Answering that would give you the answer to just about everything you asked in post #14. Btw - If you know anything about CHP officers.....YES you did get lucky. There are many reasons he couldn't show up as stated already. No offense to any Chippys on CG, but I know some that I work with that would give fellow officers a ticket.

[Triad]

Every citation I write, the department will see less than 1% of that revenue. There is absolutely no incentive financially to write people tickets. I issue citations to attempt to correct behavior deemed unsafe. Has nothing to do with lining a pocket book somewhere.