Traffic Court

[John1960]

Best Cite I ever lost: Once upon a time I cited a young man for riding a Jet Ski on a small fishing lake in a So Calif Forest Service Area. The rain was heavy that season and the lake was full, brimming nearly a whole 1/4 mile across. Boating was popular due to the fresh water, oars, rafts, swimmers, etc. The lake had a posted 5mph speed limit, I could see the sign posted on the Ramp. The young man was riding a Jet-Ski, towing his friend on an inflatable tube, having a whale of a time. The shoreline was awash in wake, and the fisherman were fuming. It was like a circus in a fish bowl. I motioned him over and tried to reason with him, while the whole lake watched. He had an attitude, all dripping wet, I said okay, sign here please. Not sure how I found the CFR section, probably off the sign. Never mind the ski observer boating rules,etc. He says, "I'll see you in court".
Sure enough months later I get a subpoena for court. I show up and explain to the judge what I had seen, cloudy water, huge wake, tangled lines, paint a little picture, etc. The judge asks, "How do you know he was going over 5 mph?". Incredulous, I explained the Jet Ski was up on plane, towing an inflatable with a fat kid, and a two-seat Jet Ski on plane is definitely going over 5 MPH. I think to myself, Like a radar gun works for small craft circling? Can't remember what the young man says. Bam!, Judge says I lose. I wished the kid the best on the way out the doors. Still cracks me up. I hope I never forget it.

[CinnamonBear723]

So far I've only lost one. The judge was a protem and stated 22107 did not apply to a police vehicle and found the defendant not guilty. I was only 10-8 for a week when I wrote the ticket and I didn't know about the people v logden case from Anaheim where the court ruled a police officer and vehicle can be the victim of 22107. I was a day late and a dollar short on that one. You can bet I will never make that mistake again though and even did briefing training on it so it wouldn't happen to anyone else. So far that's the only one I've lost.

[1-M-42]

Worked motors for 10 years in Central Cal, had traffic court every Monday morning...on my day off 100% conviction rate. I was radar instructor, traffic instructor, lead MAIT investigator and never wrote borderline tags so I was always prepared. Sure do miss the OT........

[Socaliente]

Just wrote my first cite the other night. Guy slams his breaks right in front of me and pulls into a parking lot with no turn signal. I pull in and light him up. Talk to the guy and while recorded he tells me to just write him a ticket and stop wasting his time. Dispatch is bogged down so its taking a good 10minutes to get his info back and then another few minutes for the cite. Go back to the guy and while still on tape admits he didnt use his signal but he'll see me in court. Im kinda hoping he makes true to his promise.

[IrishJoe3]

Just wrote my first cite the other night. Guy slams his breaks right in front of me and pulls into a parking lot with no turn signal. I pull in and light him up. Talk to the guy and while recorded he tells me to just write him a ticket and stop wasting his time. Dispatch is bogged down so its taking a good 10minutes to get his info back and then another few minutes for the cite. Go back to the guy and while still on tape admits he didnt use his signal but he'll see me in court. Im kinda hoping he makes true to his promise.

My reaction to that is always "well alright, if you say so..."

[Eric B]

100%... In the three that bothered to take it all the way.

The other 200-300 must have just sucked it up.

[Eric B]

Traffic Court

So far I've only lost one. The judge was a protem and stated 22107 did not apply to a police vehicle and found the defendant not guilty. I was only 10-8 for a week when I wrote the ticket and I didn't know about the people v logden case from Anaheim where the court ruled a police officer and vehicle can be the victim of 22107. I was a day late and a dollar short on that one. You can bet I will never make that mistake again though and even did briefing training on it so it wouldn't happen to anyone else. So far that's the only one I've lost.

Damn! I got a fat conviction while on FTP thanks to that VC. 0200hrs and he and I had the only cars around. He had a loaded stolen revolver on him, a zip of meth, was 11550 and had a trunk full of 496 from recent 459's. He got seven years.

[CinnamonBear723]

Ya I was less than amused that the judge threw a not guilty out there. Especially since I was morning work traffic at the time. But it happens. Can't wait to go to court on the 28th for citing a guy who almost ran me over while doing traffic control in the middle if an intersection with cones and flares in place. I just want to hear what his argument is gunna be.

[epilepticninja]

I only lost a couple. One was the judges error, and the other was on a no child seat for a rat under under 40lbs. I asked the judge to allow the defendant to purchase a child seat instead of finding her guilty and making her pay the fine. She also had to bring proof of purchase to the court. What I really enjoyed, was the five or six numbskulls that refused to sign. I always liked it when they did that. The best was the guy I cited twice in the same day for no seatbelt and no eyewear, tellling the Judge to F.O. right in court. I got to take him back to the dept./jail with me. Cept I went home and he did two days for contempt.

[IlDuche]

Lost every one. Never went to traffic court. Figured if I had to write 1 a day I would either a) write a fix it or b) not show/ dismiss prior. Worked in a busy district. Didn't care much for cites. Luckily our LT told people he just wanted cars stopped and searched if possible. Didn't care about the cites.