…and I won.
A couple of months ago I got a speeding ticket. I was doing 49 in a 40. I contested the ticket by telling the officer that stopped me that I believed that the speed limit was 45 MPH. I was serious. I wasn’t just trying to get out of the ticket. She informed me that the speed limit changed to 40 MPH about a block before she clocked me then wrote me a ticket and gave me an order to appear in traffic court.
I was convinced that the speed limit was 45 MPH where I was stopped so later that day I went back looking for the sign indicating the change. I found it… behind a big pine tree. It was nearly impossible to see so I took some photos showing that the sign couldn’t be seen and prepared for my day in court.
A couple of weeks later, I showed up in court and plead not guilty to speeding. As I saw it, this was not an issue of whether or not I was speeding, it was about whether or not I had sufficient notice that the speed limit had changed. I was given a trial date of yesterday.
Yesterday I showed up in court about 15 minutes early. The city attorney pulled me aside and offered to let me make a plea of abeyance and pay the $100+ fine with no repercussions. I told him that I have a strong case and would take my chances with the judge. He looked at my evidence and agreed. He said that if I admitted to going 49 MPH, he would recommend that the charge be dropped because it was obvious to him that I did not have notice that the speed limit changed. I agreed and we then went to the judge.
The whole thing is pretty anti-climatic since the cop who issued the ticket never showed. I got off based on that. However, the attorney wanted to discuss the issue with the judge anyways and he asked him how he would have ruled given the evidence. It turns out that had the officer appeared, I would have still won the case. Needless to say, I’ve been in a pretty good mood today.
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Way to stick to your guns. It would have been better had the cop showed up…