Greetings,
I shall warn you this is a long and complex story, and those of you that are not interested in self defense in court are probably well advised to skip this post as it is complex and there is lots to read and ponder.
Chapter one The Arrest.
On January 30, 2007 your humble correspondent was sitting in a bank doing his business when the bank officer said "Are you getting a ticket? , as she pointed over my shoulder and pointed at my rig parked at the curb.
I excused myself and walked outside to inquire what business the officer had. He informs me that the truck is parked blocking the crosswalk, he is responding to a citizens complaint and that the Chief of Police had personally directed him to write a ticket. Sure enough the bumper of the truck was in fact a little ways inside the line of the crosswalk, but I really do not think it was blocking the crosswalk, as there was room enough for a paraplegic in a wheelchair with a service dog at their side to pass in front of the truck without any difficulty.
I attempted to point out the petty nature of the complaint, but it was apparent that this was an exercise in futility. I was then informed that the officer had decided to issue the ticket to me personally, and could he please see my drivers license. I considered calling upon my extensive vocabulary in order to share my opinion of his intended action, but decided to check my anger at this fool and get on with my business. I went back into the bank, and retrieved my license from the desk of the bank officer, and returned to the side walk to comply with the request.
The officer seemed to be having some difficulty in finding the code section that he wanted but finally returned from his car (parked in the red zone) and commenced to writing. Shortly after he began his task he asks for my residence address. I decline to supply this information as there is no law that requires me to give it. He makes a call on the radio and gets the information any way. A little while later he asks me for "proof of insurance". I am really ready to go ballistic, but I again restrain myself, and instead only reply that "You don't need that for a parking ticket".
He finishes his writing and then instead of handing me the parking ticket I was expecting, he asks for my autograph on a regular moving violation, get a point on your record kind of ticket. I object to this stating that when he proposed giving the ticket to me personally instead of writing it to the company I did not understand that he was talking about writing this kind of ticket, and could he please void that and write it to the owner of the truck. He explained that it was against policy to void a ticket and he did not want to loose his job. He explained that I really didn't have to go to court if I just paid the amount that the court would send me in the mail.
I told him I would sign it under the condition that he write on the ticket that is was not moving. He did so and I signed, agreeing to appear in court on the 5th of March. I don't know for sure if he felt a little guilty, or if he was being a smart ass, but as he handed me the ticket, he thanked me for my cooperation. I said nothing, but took it as an insult.
Several days later I was talking to someone and they razzed me about getting a ticket. I wondered how the heck they knew I got a ticket and he said he heard the scanner. He informed me that the cop had driven by and reported back that the truck was not blocking the intersection, but he was directed to go back and write the ticket.
About the 14th of February I receive an amendment to the ticket notifying me that the charge of violating section 16028(a) of the vehicle code was added (no proof ins.) per order of the chief of police. This is getting really weird.
About a week before my court date comes, I realize that I have not received any notice from the court. This is not usual as the last two fixit tickets I have had with this court house have arrived within days of my getting the ticket. I called the court and to my surprise they could find no record of the ticket being filed. On the date that I had promised to appear, I shoed up at the clerks office and still no record. I told the clerk that I would like to go to court anyway. She refused saying that I could not be put on the docket if they had nothing on file. I insisted and we played the game of "go up the ladder" until they ran out clerks. The position was unchanged, I could not go to court.
The last gal suggested that I could go to court if they ever did file the ticket, and I would be notified. I told her that I had no intention of going to court as my agreement was to go to court today, not some iffy vague date in the future. She suggested that I didn't have to go, but that I could forfeit bail instead. I looked at her as she were nuts, and asked her why she thought that not filling in time would make it my problem. No answer other than a scowl. I started to leave, but turned and asked the clerk he name. "My name is Sheila." and your last name Shelia? "I asked. "I don't have to give you my last name, I am the only Shelia here and I am the operations officer".
I started to leave, but then I turned back and asked "What would you do if someone came in here and said Hi my name is Roger and I want to go to court, but then that person refused to give you their last name? Again the scowl as a response. I left with out any further inquiries.
I went home and wrote a letter addressed to the clerk of the court, the judge that usually holds traffic court, the cop that wrote the ticket and the DMV. I informed all of these folks that I had appeared in the clerks office and offered to appear in court, but that my offer had been rejected so I was concluding that my obligation to appear in court arising from the ticket had been extinguished by my offer of performance.
The letters went out the next day and I heard nothing, until I received two letters, one from the cop containing only another ticket amendment form, this one stating the box marked commercial vehicle should be checked as per court. The second letter was the computer generated "courtesy notice" asking for $909 or an appearance in court on April 23rd.
A series of letters was exchanged and the ultimatum was given, you can appear or not as you choose, but if you do not pay or appear a hold will be placed you your drivers license, and this matter will be turned over to a collection agency. This threat was signed by Sheila but this time she had included her last name.
I considered blowing of the matter and filing suit in the event that anyone would screw with my license, but instead I chose to go to court and avoid the circus of a suspended license.
On April 23rd. I appeared and was arraigned on the two charges. I was then asked for my plea, but instead I gave the judge a demurrer. For those of you nor familiar with court procedure, a demurrer is a formal objection to the accusatory pleading. Basically it tell the court that you have a really good reason not to answer the question "How do you plead?".
Since the District Attorney was not in court that day, nor had he replied to my letter asking for information and the procedure to make an appointment to discuss the case, and when I had called his office the clerk had informed me that "The District Attorney's office had nothing to do with traffic tickets." The Judge decided to defer the matter until May 9th for a hearing.
My demurrer had 4 points.
First the ticket was invalid as the law required the ticket to be filed as soon as practicable.
The second point was that since the court had evidently directed the cop to amend the ticket to repair a perceived defect, that this should be construed the same way that an order sustaining a demurrer with leave to amend would be in that the law requires this to be done within 10 days and since the correction was not attempted until 15 days after the time that they court had no record, it must have been more than ten days.
The third ground was that since the law requires an accused to be tried within 45 days of his arraignment unless the accused waives that right, the court should start counting the 45 days from March 6th and that since more than 45 days had elapsed since that date a speedy trial could not be had, so this also mandates dismissal.
The fourth ground was that the policeman had no authority to file an accusation without the approval of the District Attorney. The District attorney had been given notice that I was contesting the charges and filed, nothing, nor did he give me notice of his intention to file. Since he did not inform me of his intention prior to the (2nd) arraignment date I then was permitted to make his decision and I hereby elect not to be prosecuted.
Now if you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the story and I solicit your comments.