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Darrel Toepfer wrote in news:RV9jf.38652$Y82.27551
@bignews4.bellsouth.net:

Skywise wrote:

BTW, in case anyone is curious...one accident (infamous opposing
left turn, no injuries) and one ticket (which in hindsight I could
have talked myself out of, I suspected the officer did not radar
me like he claimed, and I didn't ask to see the reading on the gun,
but I didn't know at the time that if they radar you and they can't
show you the reading, they can't give you a ticket)

They just show you a reading, showed it to the last poor soul they
ripped off as well...

Possible for other situations, but not mine.

The officer claimed to have been sitting at a particular street
corner yet I suspected he had just paced me. I had passed a
motorcycle cop about a mile back that was doing someone else
over. It just didn't click quick enough for my inexperienced
young mind that this guy was probably the same cop and that he
didn't radar me. If I'd had enough foresight to ask, he wouldn't
have been able to show me any reading at all.

Later, on my return trip I checked out the area. Turned out the
corner he claimed to be sitting on was one I specifically
remembered looking at because of the nice houses, and I didn't
recall seeing any motorcycle officer pointing a radar gun at me.

Now for the fun part. I noticed that the distance from the
corner to where I came to a stop seemed awfully short. Turned
out to be only about 2700 feet. So I did some calculations to
see how fast the officer would have had to accelerate and to
what speed in order to catch up to me going the alleged 68 mph
and then for me to pull over in only 2700 feet. I seem to
recall he would have had to get well over 100 and back down to
0 in that short distance.

I tried arguing this to the judge, trying to show the officer
could not have in fact been there to radar me. His response
was "I happen to know for a fact that police bikes can go that
fast." Silly me, I should have said something like "what's your
evidence?"

Looking back on it now it's all so silly, but I learned several
things. Cops lie and judges lie. Yes, I was in fact speeding,
but the point is how I was caught was not the truth. Also, I
learned that one cannot defend themselves without first paying
the penalty of your alleged crime (guilty until proven innocent).
That is, you have to pay the fine BEFORE you're allowed to
dispute the ticket. Hey, I was just a young lad when this
happened, naive and full of optimism. Now I'm older, smarter,
and pessimistic.

Since then I've had a few other encounters with police officers
and in every case have successfully argued myself out of any
ticket. In all those cases I wasn't speeding. Sheesh, I actually
had one cop argue with me about calibration of speedometers! His
logic was flawed and I caught him with it. I later checked my
speedometer just for S&G and it reads 1.5% high.

It's been well over 5 years now since I've had any such problems.
Even though my driving style on the bike could technically earn
me several tickets, I've just not been pulled over. I guess
that's a good thing as I'd hate to have to argue that my driving
style is a direct result of the need for me to keep my skin alive
with all the nuts on the road. In a choice between my safety and
obeying the law, my safety wins every time. I really hope I never
have to argue this. I have a short temper when it comes to idiots.

And in a lame attempt to put this on topic, I sometimes liken
riding a motorcyle in LA as combat flying at zero agl, you're
out of ammo, and the other guy is a kamikaze!

Sheesh! You should have seen what happened to me on the 22 fwy
the other night! I really have to wonder about the statistics
that GA is slightly less safe than riding a motorcycle.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
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On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:24:50 -0000, Skywise
wrote in
::

I noticed that the distance from the
corner to where I came to a stop seemed awfully short. Turned
out to be only about 2700 feet. So I did some calculations to
see how fast the officer would have had to accelerate and to
what speed in order to catch up to me going the alleged 68 mph
and then for me to pull over in only 2700 feet. I seem to
recall he would have had to get well over 100 and back down to
0 in that short distance.

Accelerating to 100 mph in a half mile is easily doable; My 3,800 lb
Corvette will go from 60 to 0 in 158 feet.

I tried arguing this to the judge, trying to show the officer
could not have in fact been there to radar me. His response
was "I happen to know for a fact that police bikes can go that
fast." Silly me, I should have said something like "what's your
evidence?"

You should have provided some evidence of your own if you could find
any to support your argument.

Incidentally, it's *bail* you post before arraignment, as you haven't
yet been sentenced/fined at that point in the process.

Don't ever wave time when posting bail or appearing for arraignment;
that's how you can prevail. In California, the law mandates that you
receive a _speedy_trial_. The Court will try to tell you that the
21-day time begins at the time of arraignment, but if your trial date
is set more than 21-days from your arrest (citation date), it's
possible to successfully file a motion for dismissal.

Larry Dighera wrote in
:

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 07:24:50 -0000, Skywise
wrote in
::

I noticed that the distance from the
corner to where I came to a stop seemed awfully short. Turned
out to be only about 2700 feet. So I did some calculations to
see how fast the officer would have had to accelerate and to
what speed in order to catch up to me going the alleged 68 mph
and then for me to pull over in only 2700 feet. I seem to
recall he would have had to get well over 100 and back down to
0 in that short distance.

Accelerating to 100 mph in a half mile is easily doable; My 3,800 lb
Corvette will go from 60 to 0 in 158 feet.

Yes, it's POSSIBLE, if you floor it, and then slam on the brakes.
The officer may have been "flooring" it on the bike to catch
up to me, but when he pulled me over, I didn't slam on my brakes.
I slowed down gently.


I tried arguing this to the judge, trying to show the officer
could not have in fact been there to radar me. His response
was "I happen to know for a fact that police bikes can go that
fast." Silly me, I should have said something like "what's your
evidence?"

You should have provided some evidence of your own if you could find
any to support your argument.

I had the calculations in my hand, but neve even got to show
them. The arse-hole judge slammed me mid-sentence as I started
to make my case.

Well, that's something else I learned that if it happens again,
I won't take that form the judge. I'll be polite, of course.


Incidentally, it's *bail* you post before arraignment, as you haven't
yet been sentenced/fined at that point in the process.

Yes, and the bail ALWAYS equals the fine.


Don't ever wave time when posting bail or appearing for arraignment;
that's how you can prevail. In California, the law mandates that you
receive a _speedy_trial_. The Court will try to tell you that the
21-day time begins at the time of arraignment, but if your trial date
is set more than 21-days from your arrest (citation date), it's
possible to successfully file a motion for dismissal.

Thanks for the hints. I've heard similar stuff since. Like I said,
this happened long ago when I was young and didn't know much.

I've also heard that if you go down to the courthouse immediately,
preferably the same day and demand your day in court, odds are that
you will be scheduled on a day the arresting officer can't make it
- other than the day on the ticket - and the case is dropped, unless
the guy actually wants to take time off his scheduled work to defend
a ticket.

But anyway, enough of my whining. I'm not worried about it anymore
as I just don't get caught anymore.

BTW, that's been my only ticket on the bike.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?
Like censorship and not getting support help? Switch to Supernews!
They won't even answer questions through your ISP!

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:55:02 -0000, Skywise
wrote in
::


Incidentally, it's *bail* you post before arraignment, as you haven't
yet been sentenced/fined at that point in the process.

Yes, and the bail ALWAYS equals the fine.

While the values are customarily equal, bail may be refunded unlike a
fine. So if your case is dismissed, the laws below apply:


http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/wa...ion=re trieve

42201.6. (a) A deposit of bail received with respect to an
infraction violation of this code, or any local ordinance adopted
pursuant to this code, including, but not limited to, a violation
involving the standing or parking of a vehicle, shall be refunded
by the agency which issued the notice of violation or the court
within 30 days of a cancellation, dismissal, or finding of not
guilty of the offense charged.
(b) Multiple or duplicate deposits of bail or parking penalty
shall be identified by the court or agency and refunded within 30
days of identification.
(c) Any amount to be refunded in accordance with subdivision
(a) or (b) shall accrue interest, at the rate specified in Section
3289* of the Civil Code, on and after the 60th day of a
cancellation, dismissal, or finding of not guilty or
identification of multiple or duplicate deposits, and shall be
refunded as soon as possible thereafter along with accrued
interest.


42202. Failure, refusal, or neglect on the part of any judicial
or other officer or employee receiving or having custody of any
fine or forfeiture mentioned in this article either before or
after deposit in the respective fund to comply with the foregoing
provisions of this article is misconduct in office and ground for
removal therefrom.

*

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/wa...ion=re trieve


However, it seems The Orange County Superior Court is unaware of those
laws mandating refund with interest within thirty days:

http://www.occourts.org/traffic/

If the fine is suspended or if you are found not guilty, your bail
is refunded by mail within sixty days and is returned to the
depositor at the address listed on the case


This provides some insight into lack of competence of the court which
can often be exploited to advantage.

Don't ever wave time when posting bail or appearing for arraignment;
that's how you can prevail. In California, the law mandates that you
receive a _speedy_trial_. The Court will try to tell you that the
21-day time begins at the time of arraignment, but if your trial date
is set more than 21-days from your arrest (citation date), it's
possible to successfully file a motion for dismissal.

Thanks for the hints. I've heard similar stuff since. Like I said,
this happened long ago when I was young and didn't know much.

I've also heard that if you go down to the courthouse immediately,
preferably the same day and demand your day in court, odds are that
you will be scheduled on a day the arresting officer can't make it
- other than the day on the ticket - and the case is dropped, unless
the guy actually wants to take time off his scheduled work to defend
a ticket.

Thanks for that nugget.