[Shotimes] OT: Help! Unfair traffic ticket!

[Noah South III]

At least in Michigan it is VERY illegal for an officer, whether uniformed or
not, to pull someone over in an unmarked vehicle.  He can have wigwags and
bubblegums if he wants, but he still can't use them to pull you over with.
I'm sure other states have similar laws so you might want to look into
trying that angle, if the stop was illegal, any ticket he gave you is void.
In court however, it's going to come down to is the officer's word against
yours, and unfortunately the officer can lie his ass off if he wants to.
Unless you have some evidence that says otherwise he's going to win.
Welcome to the wonderful world of law enforcement corruption.  I really
would like to become an officer if for the only reason of eventually making
my way into Internal Affairs.

-Noah South III

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christian Kesselring" <ckesselring@sisna.com>
To: "Shotimes" <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 3:57 PM
Subject: [Shotimes] OT: Help! Unfair traffic ticket!


> Today, I got a ticket in my SHO for an "improper lane change", and I am
> furious about it.  This cop in an unmarked, untagged CV pulled me over and
> accused me of making several lane changes without signalling.  The signal
is
> working...he checked.  What pisses me off is that I know I signalled, as I
> do every single time, so this a**hole had to be either mistaken or making
it
> up.  I admit, I was driving fairly aggressively, and that is probably why
he
> pulled me over.  For him to cite me for something I didn't even do, or
> rather not doing something I did do, is ludicrous.  Of course, I will go
to
> court, but what approach should I take?  Obviously, I am going to plead
"Not
> Guilty", does that automatically disqualify me from any bargaining?  I am
> not going to plead "Guilty" to something I know I didn't do!  This isn't
one
> of those "Well, I'm not sure how fast I was going" things, I am dead sure.
> What I really want to happen is to walk into the courtroom, explain that I
> did not do what the officer said I did, and walk out with the ticket
> dismissed.  But how do I do that?  Geez, this sucks.  Oh, and by the way,
> this was in Midvale, UT.
>
> Christian Kesselring
> '92 SHO 119k
> '02 PT Cruiser 9k
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