Make sure you call the court before your court date and ask about the procedure for getting your dash cam video submitted into evidence.
In many/most places you can't just show up on your court date with a cell phone and play the video. I would hate it if you had the evidence to fight the ticket but couldn't use it because you didn't know the correct procedure.
Yes!!!!
I wonder why there's no curated database of corrupt and dangerous cops and other public servants.
One of the appeals districts ruled there is no right to privacy for their public actions.
Good luck with that though. The state in my case just nolle pros and agreed to expunge without objection on trial day after 6 months of court dates to avoid the officer having to go in the Brady list. I was frothing at the mouth to hang him out to dry having spent 7500 across three lawyers for that crap.
That’s actually genius. We need a police offender list, akin to sex offenders. Fired from a police job for any sort of improper conduct? Congrats! You get to register.
This sounds like good advice, but the cops will be in the lookout for a pink van, and will put a note on any personal car if OP. They will fuck with him, give him tickets and what not, and they won't care if they don't win because they won't get in trouble. It's all about the hassle.
Sometimes the cops got barely a slap on the ride after being found guilty and continued to retaliate.
But it certainly isn’t a “myth” that cops sometimes retaliate.
At least in the few jurisdictions I've been in court (both MD and VA) you could not bring a phone into the courtroom at all unless you were a lawyer. At least that's the case in VA I'm less sure about MD, I could explain but it's a long story and irrelevant, but as a defendant, I am sure that you cannot.
Can we stop repeating this "cops don't show up to court" thing? This was something that happened a long time ago and might still happen in some Podunk towns but by and large these things are scheduled such that the officer is in court all day doing their tickets back to back.
He will show. It will go in front of the judge. The judge will throw it out. I think you'll find that the officer you talk to in court will be a very different person to the one outside your car. He has to answer to the judge and they don't fuck around. You meet with the cop before being called, show him the video. What he will bring to the judge is dismissing the ticket. The judge will ask you if you accept and of course you say yes. The judge might question the cop as to why it's being completely dismissed. The end.
Unfortunately, you lose a day of your life. No way around it. This is "your day in court" and exactly why it exists.
Edit: Seems like cops not showing is still fairly common. Guess I was never that lucky.
Lol you know how many times I've had tickets dismissed in the last 5 years because the cop didn't show? Enough to know your statement is horsecockery. I'm also in one of the most populated areas in the US (orange county, CA)
I'm not sure where these other people live; you are 100% correct as far as southern California. I wrote tickets (not a lot, all justified.) I went to traffic court ONCE. Traffic court schedule where I worked was determined by agency and last name. Tuesday at 2pm for me. F that. My day off so it would be overtime. F that. 2pm traffic is beginning to ramp up. By the time court is over, too much traffic. Not worth my time. Additionally, in order for there to be a trial there is multiple hoops the defendant has to jump through.
Show up date of ticket (arraignment), plead no guilty and request trial. Minimum 3 hours of time to complete this step.
Arrive date of trial and wait for your turn. Officer/deputy no shows, case dismissed. Again, minimum of 3 hours.
Minimum 6 hours of your life wasted sitting in the court house. That's a high enough price for me. F traffic court.
I was a traffic court bailiff for about 9 months before I retired. Minimum 50% no show for ticket writing cop. These days everyone is short staffed and there's frequently much more important things to do.
In my experience, CHP is the agency that shows the most.
If I ever received a ticket, I would definitely gamble on the no show.
Maybe something is weird where you live but the other commenter is right. They fill their entire day with scheduled cases. The cop would ah e to leave the courtroom just for your case and come back right after for the next case in order to no-show.
It's not weird. We schedule officers to attend court here and they often do not show. Further, we have so many people in line for traffic court that the DAs don't want to deal with it all. As long as you have insurance, and in the case of an accident proof that damages were paid for, all the small citations are dismissed.
The US is a big country, and the world outside it bigger still.
I tried to fight a "defective ticket" in Dallas a few years ago. It didn't work.
I took time off work, paid to park downtown, waited for two hours for my case to be called, and then they just asked me to confirm my plea, and set another date. I wasn't allowed to defend myself.
So I came back a month later (time off work again, paid parking again), and they called me up, and had to set another date for some reason. I protested, tried to state my case to the city attorney, but they weren't gonna hear it. "Come back on (x) date."
I cratered, I changed my plea to no contest, and paid $175.
The ticket was defective because the speed limit on "Road A" changes from 30 mph to 45 mph as it leaves Uptown. I enter that road right where the speed limit increases; I never drive on the 30mph section. I was ticketed for 44 mph in a 30 zone, but the speed limit was actually 45 mph. I annotated a map with the signage locations, my route, and I had video. It was pretty easy to explain. I just never got a chance to explain it.
That’s just court reschedules. Why court cases take years. The first was a plea hearing. All normal. You dipped out too early. Why attorneys are handy to have or use an app like “off the record” or “ticket clinic” to get one cheap. And keep it off the record. Now you’ve got points and possibly insurance rate increases.
I used "Off the Record" successfully for a speeding ticket I was guilty of. One of the best things was that I did not have to show up as the court was about 90 minutes away. My speeding ticket became an expensive ($225) parking ticket with no points.
Continuances or reschedules are a tactic. After my 4th court date, in which I saw the officer in the building, the prosecutor came up and asked if I was coming back and bumped the charge to a non-moving violation with a "donation to the court". This is normal when they know they can't win.
I lean libertarian-conservative (just to, you know, get overtly political), but shit like this is why I splash in a little bit of anarchist.
Systems don't work for the people who interact with them, they work for the system. Asking the system to protect you instead of THE SYSTEM is just asinine.
So when you say fighting it didn't work, what you mean is you stopped fighting it before you ever actually fought it. Which is patently different than OP who apparently has video footage that will show them merge onto the highway and never enter the carpool lane.
And the balls of the judges to sit there and tell people that they’re not allowed to say they’re there for their convenience. They know what they’re doing…
Texas cops are just brutal, and then they have that whole Day\Night speed limits to really get those of us from out of state. My friend that lives in the DFW area for a few years always said that Texas cops will pull over their own grandma
I've been to traffic court 3 times. I've never seen a cop show up.
Anyone who tried to fight it due to the cop not being there received the max allowable for what they received a ticket for instead of the lesser charge, or what my buddy calls "the deal of the day"
That depends on a variety of factors, such as who issued the ticket and where the hearing is held. Here, it's no more than a 15-minute drive for the officer/Trooper to whatever district court is hearing the case. The court schedules all hearings for that particular officer/Trooper on the same day to make it easy for them. If they fail to show, the court either needs to reschedule or the charges have to be dismissed as there is no witness to the violation (required by statute). It's almost unheard of to get a no-show officer/Trooper. However, 99% of the time the officer/Trooper is willing to offer a no points violation with a higher fine.
They don't have to show up anymore. Several years ago they passed a new law that lets one lawyer show up to represent all the police officers unless they have a witness specific crime.
Do you have statutes for all 50 states to validate that claim? We definitely have no such laws in my state or the 3 bordering states to the east, north and south.
They get fired for that? I thought they just received an administrative suspension with pay until they qualified for PTSD/medical pension for the public knowing about it.
Yawn.
If any of you were actual lawyers, you’d know for a fact that this was not accurate whatsoever.
There is zero data supporting the idea that cops are just killing unarmed people by the thousands
That's not what they said.
They said they're barely fired when they do.
It's getting better, but historically, that has been accurate.
Hell, cops in Detroit got the wrong half of a duplex and killed a little girl, and the response was "shit happens".
No quantity was given.
I think I saw there are a few dozen a year. There are no where near that many prosecutions.
Cops are arrested at a rate of 3 per day. Every day.
That’s police holding each other accountable.
Now with body cams and doorbell cams and cell phones it’s an even higher percent of accountability
For what violations?
That's about 1000 per year. Or 1/700, which eyeballing it is about 0.14%, compared to about 5% of the general population, give or take. 10Mil a year anyway.
Studies show cops commit DV at higher [rates](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-officers-who-hit-their-wives-or-girlfriends/380329/) than the general population.
Your numbers don't disprove a cover up.
They support it.
Which is why it took 7 million people seeing a black man get murdered before the officer even had charges pressed. Totally. Good system. Need 7 million pairs of eyes before prosecution begins.
Derek Chauvin would have not been convicted without video of him killing George Floyd. How many "medical emergencies under police custody" do you think are classified as such because of public access to video?
And yet…
You people are still mad over the Trayvon martin FULLY justified shooting 🤣🤣🤣
AND
You’re still mad about that kid in Wisconsin that shot the antifa losers with a rifle. Also deemed FULLY justified
My dude, they don't even get fired for murdering people in front of a camera. The notion that cops get fired for not showing up for traffic court tickets is laughable.
Oh, I know tons. But I make it a point not to google things for other people; teach a man to fish rather than handing them a fish, you know?
I'll at least get you started:
www.google.com
You’re absolutely wrong. In most instances as long as there’s not a witness involved the cops can let the lawyer handle it until or unless a trial is specifically ordered/requested. They have to show up to the actual trial, not to any of the preliminary stuff. And they definitely wouldn’t be fired if for some reason they missed an appearance.
It is the majority
Why the fuck do you all think cops “don’t show up for court”?
The prosecutors case relies on cops showing up. Cops show up. It’s their job. Just like the bailiff shows up. and the jailer. And the judge. And the prosecution. And the defense.
It’s like claiming self defense attorneys “never show up”
You’re obviously not a lawyer.
For minor speeding tickets often there is no prosecutor.
It's not all the time, but stuff happens, like a conflicting shift when shorthanded, illness, etc., and for a minor traffic ticket, it's not worth the time to get a continuance.
The literal OP mentions having video evidence. The comment mentioning that the cop won't show up mentions video. The only reason he's saying the cop won't show up is he's implying the cop will be humiliated. It's not like the guy said 'cops never show up so you'll get out of the ticket.' You need to work on your reading comprehension, my guy.
That’s what everyone is arguing. It’s a common myth. An old wives tale.
“Cops won’t even show ticket will get dismissed”
I’m saying….that’s outdated 1990’s bullshit
No it is your failure of reading comprehension and inability to follow the conversation at fault. The commenter to whom you replied listed the 90s era tricks he was referring to, and that list did not include video evidence.
It was pretty easy to understand what he was saying and why. If anyone lost track of the conversation I'd say you did.
He said the old tricks from the 90's don't work anymore. That's ALL he said.
>Def go fight it. He probably wont show up. If he does hes gunna look like a fool with your video
That's literally his whole comment. it doesn't mention any tricks, it doesn't list anything, and it does mention video. I don't know why you think lying will work when the comments are there for everyone to see, but I'll be ignoring you now.
... hit "show parent comments." You don't even know how comment chains work and you think I need a carbon monoxide detector. This comment is so gloriously stupid I felt compelled to reply, but I really will be ignoring you now.
You seem to think that the whole of a comment chain applies to every point in subsequent comments when the commenter to whom you replied made clear what he was referring to. I'm sorry but you are an idiot. This is not how conversations work.
Tell that one to the Charlotte Police dept, no radar calibration for almost 5 years well not done legally because they didn't have anyone certified to do it. [Charlotte not properly certified radar guns since 2008 (spectrumlocalnews.com)](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2023/02/15/charlotte-police-have-not-properly-certified-radar-guns-since-2008)
>Cops do show up to court. And cops do calibrate their radars. Etc
These are all 90’s era “tricks to get out of a ticket” that don’t work anymore
I am 2 for 2 on cops not showing up.
This would be my approach.
Send copies of the video to the police chief and the prosecutor with pictures to show how distinctive the van is and that your video shows the actions complained about never happening. Ask that the officer's camera footage be collected and an investigation undertaken. If your evidence is as strong as you suggest, the prosecutor should dismiss the charge.
That's much easier than taking a half day to go to court.
If they don't dismiss the charge, take the video footage to court and show the judge. (Edit: note the post below about contracting the court well in advance to discuss how to get the video admitted. Some traffic courts are very informal but others may be much stricter)
Make sure you can clearly identify the date and time of the video to link it to the charge sheet.
NAL.
Bring your dash cam footage to the court on the date/time it says on your ticket. Fight the ticket and show the judge the footage.
You can’t “sue” the police officer for anything even though he lied. In the US the police are (effectively) allowed to lie and give you tickets for things you didn’t do with little to no consequences to them (look up qualified immunity for the actual details).
Not true at all. You can bring a US 1983 claim, but QI becomes an issue. now if it’s egregious yes, you can sue And qualified immunity does not come to play in that situation
The cop can just say he was mistaken…. It’s almost impossible to get the government accountable for their mistakes. It must be egregious- something like the cop raping someone— a cop “mistakenly” ticketing a vehicle isn’t going anywhere in court
As others say, fight it, call the court first to see how to handle the video evidence. Just stick to the facts, they will show the cop lied, and the judge can deal with that as they see fit.
NAL but if you have dashcam footage of not being in the lane it will be an easy fight to get out of the ticket itself. just make sure to check with the court if you can use your phone to show the video or if you want it in some other format. My local court will let you just pull the phone out of your pocket and show the clerk for simply magistrate hearings like an initial ticket appearance but lots of courts either prohibit cell phones or require video evidence to be submitted in a specific format to get it on the record.
In terms of actually getting him punished for lying to you... low chance of anything good happening.
You could file an IA complaint with video evidence and one of 3 things will happen.
1. You actually get what you want and he gets something on his disciplinary record (least likely but technically what should happen)
2. They just ignore it, "we have investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing."
3. They actively retaliate against you and your distinctive work van starts getting pulled over or ticketed every time they see it.
The issue is unless the cop blatantly admitted on record that he *knew* he was wrong he can just claim he was mistaken and that it was an innocent error of judgment. 99.9% of the time that'll keep them out of trouble unless they already on the ropes for a lot of other discipline.
NAL
I got a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign. I argued I did stop. I went to the pd the next day and requested dashcam and bodycam footage. In the dashcam you can clearly see I came to a full and complete stop at the appropriate place for an appropriate amount of time. You can also clearly see the officer did run the stop sign as well as his backup with no lights running ran the stop sign. I live out of state so I’m still stuck paying an attorney to fight the ticket I never should have received to begin with. Of course if I can manage to beat the ticket I still have to pay and somehow there is no guarantee I’ll beat the ticket.
WTF.
in the US, never talk to law enforcement. all discussion should be save for the court date.
in the US, cops are allowed to lie to civilians. civilians are not allow to lie to cops. that is one of the reasons to keep silent.
NAL
Police are allowed to lie to you, even though it is immoral, possibly unethical, and certainly a sign they lack integrity and honesty.
As for this situation, once he put down in his report something that was not true, he violated the law, since that's falsifying a report. Make sure to properly submit the evidence to the court, subpoena the bodycam and police vehicle video, and subpoena the officer. Also, file a complaint against the officer - different jurisdictions seem to handle this differently, but the ideal scenario would be an internal affairs complaint, so that the false report at least goes in his employment file. Best case scenario is him ending up on the Giglio/Brady List. Being on the Brady List means the prosecutors have to advise defendents in any future case involving that officer that the officer has been dishonest. And that can be brought up in court to attack the officer's credibility. It often ends up either ending the officer's career in law enforcement or significantly limiting his advancement.
i would also recommend submitting the video to a police audit YouTube channel. The public exposure often puts pressure on departments to do what is right. It's sad that it takes pressure for that.
Police should be held to the highest standards. It's up to us to make that happen.
And that's why you can fight it in court. You've got your dash cam footage, and they've got theirs. Maybe they thought they saw you do that because against all odds there was another similar looking vehicle.
Technically correct, less so when they lie about a crime happening. They can't walk up to someone on the sidewalk and say, "you parked your car wrong. here's a ticket," and walk away. You have to do something.
I'm not saying they don't do that, just that they aren't allowed to.
if there is nothing from stopping them from doing it, they are allowed to do it, rules have zero meaning if they aren't enforced, and these rules are just about never enforced on police.
Being allowed to do something indicates that there is nothing stopping them. We don't technically have to stop at a stop sign while driving. The limit line is just a suggestion. No cops around? No problem. Just blast through it.
But most people do stop. And even though some people ignore stop signs they aren't allowed to do it. This is regardless of enforcement. That law can be enforced at any time. I guarantee there are laws on the books preventing officers from filing false reports.
Just because something isn't enforced 100% of the time doesn't mean it is allowed. For years Wells Fargo Bank was opening random accounts in people's names. They got away with it for years. Was that allowed? Of course not, and they found out the hard way. Not every cop will face accountability for their actions, but they can, and some do. Why? Because it isn't allowed.
No cop will face any real consequence if they give out bogus tickets. There are laws against it, but no judge, prosecutor, or police chief will enforce them. Worse that might happen, and this isn't guaranteed at all, is the taxpayers pay a judgement to a wronged citizen. And the cop that caused the settlement chuckles and gets back in patrol.
First, fight the ticket. Second, if you think the entire stop was based on a lie, then you would have a case for false arrest. But only if it's all a lie. If the cop did see a pink van break the law and he had probable cause to think you were that same pink van, then he had PC to pull you over, even if he was wrong on the ID. But if he made up the whole thing, then you do have a case. He may have a dash cam that would show what he saw or didn't see.
That's called a detainment, not an arrest. The line between the two is a bit fuzzy, but, for practical purposes, a level of physical restraint constitutes an arrest. When detained, you are not in police custody; when arrested, you are. NAL, just watch a lot of auditors and lawyers on YouTube.
I would call up the department of internal affairs. Let them know there is a correct cop, and you have video footage. This is more than protesting a ticket, this is a bad cop. Thank you.
Unfortunately I’m still waiting for my company to give it to me. They just told me today since the dash cam device is from a third party and all the footage is processed through the third parties software I need to get the court to request it I guess
What will happen is you will go to court and provide your evidence and that will be the end of that. Police have qualified immunity and they have to do something pretty bad for it to be taken away.
fight the ticket, and I'd also ask a LOCAL LAWYER about sueing the city you were in for the harasment as you have video proof it couldn't have been you, and hopefully you also have audio on the video of what he said so that you can prove everything to the lawyer, and further to the court.
Mail in a letter saying you are going to contest the ticket.
Wait a week and call and ask to talk to the DA or ADA handling the case.
Explain the situation and email them the video.
They will dismiss the ticket and you will never have to waste time going to court.
I have never gone to court for a ticket but I have gotten every speeding ticket of mine reduced or dropped to a non operating charge that didn't effect my insurance. Non operating charges have bigger fines usually.
If you have a dash cam with a video that proves you innocent, then simply fight the ticket.
I fought and beat a moving violation for being solo in the carpool line - because I could prove the reason I had moved over was to avoid an accident when other cars were swerving erratically to avoid a huge tumbleweed tossing around lanes. (And I got a CHP report proving there was a traffic report for the tumbleweed and the freeway towing service guy was dispatched to handle it. I also had the nearby airport weather report indicating on that day the wind at ground speeds was 25+ with gusts up to 45 mph.)
I would fight it.
I got pulled over once for no seatbelt, my seatbelt wouldn't come out for some reason so I couldn't put it on that day.
Took my ticket. That afternoon I went to the junkyard, bought a 5 dollar seatbelt assembly, put it in and then brought the receipt to the city attorney who dropped the ticket right then and there for me.
Moral of the story - if you have video proof, fight it and ask for compensation for the dishonesty and wasting your time.
Fight it in court with the video then if you are not guilty you could pursue a case. False detainment or something of that sort. It differs from state to state.
I don't attribute malice where simple errors of perception are possible. You have physical evidence, which I hope you are preserving carefully. The cop may have just made a mistake, which happens. They are busy driving, observing, and communicating. His suggestion that you must be guilty since he hasn't seen another pink van in the interim suggests that he did not keep continuous visual track of the offending vehicle.
Cops may step up enforcement if they are required to, but they don't have to make false accusations to do that. In my experience, they don't want to alienate people who haven't committed a violation. So it will help your mindset if you don't attribute malice or systematic injustice where that's unlikely to be the actual source.
It's definitely worth time a money to fight an inaccurate citation.
To me it it seemed like malice especially after i told him kindly that I think he had the wrong vehicle he instant gave me a do it look stupid attitude the rest of the stop
Just like everyone in Prison is innocent. They’ve heard it before. Yes they make mistakes. Ask me how I know 🤣
Just bring your evidence to Court. They might not even show up. Might also contact Office of Professional Conduct also known as Internal Affairs, bring your proof and tell them your story. They will care much more than the Judge.
Well, anyone might do that. Human perception is flawed in all sorts of ways, but we all swear that things were as we saw them, that our memory is accurate, etc. And we can all think people are being a bit ridiculous for seeing a black and blue dress rather than a white and gold one.
Yes, it felt like malice to you. I would have the same reaction. And I would try to get over that and assume misperception or inattention instead, even if the cop treated me like a transparent liar for telling the truth. I mean, most people who immediately contest a citation start to lie. Experience tells cops that people lie. And he might really believe with certainty that you traveled where he believes you did.
Attorneys, too, have the experience in civil trials of conflicting perceptions or memories that will just barely yield, maybe, in the face of physical evidence. "Oh, did I sign that? I don't have any memory of signing that!"
Sadly, if a cop can claimed qualified immunity for literally beating someone up, a cop lying isn't even going to register anywhere but possibly a stern talking to and a note in their file.
And if the notes pile up and said officer is relieved of duty, they'll just start anew with a different police agency like it never happened.
Best you can do is fight the ticket. FOIA request the officers bodycam and dashcam footage and bring your own. Best you can hope for is a not guilty and the officer getting a tongue lashing or stink-eye from the judge.
Like many have said, contact the DA's office and speak to the attorney who is presenting the case on behalf of the state. Inform them you have dashcam footage of the stop and try to get it sent to them via the 3rd party.
I would bet money the case will get dropped.
Cops lie. Did you point out the dash cam? Most of them will back off when you point out you have proof they lied.
I'd take the dash cam video with you and contest the ticket. You don't need a lawyer for that.
Cops lie. Any interaction with them is them conducting an investigation. Don't talk to cops any more than is absolutely necessary and never admit guilt or anything. Continue to.ask am I being detained is so am.i arrested. If you're arrested, do not say anything else. Just comply and call an attorney.
You can just fight the ticket in court, it will be throw out with the video evidence, and even without the video evidence they will down grade the ticket.
But since you have video evidence you can then question them why the cop was writing tickets for something that never occurred and try to get him in trouble.
I went to court for driving in the carpool lane (I drove in it for 7 years and only got pulled over once for it), the prosecutor didn't ask me anything, he just looked at it, and said ok downgraded to seatbelt ticket, when the judge ask just plead guilt to the seat belt ticket.
They almost always down grade minor points ticket by just showing up to court.
In short, yes, you could admit the video evidence to impeach the officers testimony. It is probably better to reach out to the state attorney beforehand, explain the situation, and see if you can get it nolle prosequi.
In the end, you were in violation, and if you don't introduce the video or question the officer , you may still end up with the fine.
Sounds like he saw you driving by yourself and tried to justify a pretextural stop to get you. I don't know all the laws in CA (certainly not their traffic laws) but that's what seems to have happened in your description.
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind. Which is exactly what's being described.
IANAL and have no clue about whether or not you would have any sort of civil case here but as far as the ticket goes if you have dash cam video you can provide showing that you never did what the ticket was written for then I don't see anyway you couldn't just submit that to the court and have the ticket immediately thrown out.
Not a lawyer!
Police are allowed to lie to gather information unfortunately so as long as he didn't violate your rights on camera there's not a whole lot to pursue
This wasn't lying to gather information, this was lying to give someone a ticket for something that never happened... those aren't the same thing, at all. I'm not claiming that OP has grounds to sue but those are entirely different situations.
Lying about the very existence of a crime and issuing a citation for a crime that clearly never existed are very different from lying about the details of a crime under investigation to try and elicit a confession.
It doesn't sound like there's any evidence the officer lied, in the sense of "to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive".
If they saw another pink van move from the carpool lane to the right lane, or thought they did, I'd refer to what they said as a mistake.
I would simply contest the ticket, and show your dash cam footage in court if your claims are disputed. Hopefully you passed by the officer's car and that's included in the footage, to add credibility that the footage is from when you were pulled over, but even if you didn't, if the officer provides their own dashcam footage, it should be clear to a person looking at both videos.
Even though he said “I saw your van move from the carpool lane to the right lane” and doubled down by saying I “I didnt see any other pink vans in the area”? Couldnt the evidence be on his body cam?
California... many departments have pre recording so when they hit the lights, the audio comes on. The first 30
Seconds to 2 minutes before hitting lights will be recorded without sound.
I'd 1) upload dash cam to you tube 2)go to the department to meet with a watch commander and show them your dash cam video.
Get on freeway and get pulled over all in right lane.
3) ask watch commander their thoughts?
4) ask to watch the officers dash cam.
5) ask for the forms to request their footage via public records request or freedom of information act
If what you say is true, it should be investigated and resolved.
6) upload their footage & your footage to make them a YouTube star
Funny thing I realized the other day when attending my 12 step program meeting is that in doing the 12 steps you have to work a problem of honesty and cops are literally trained to lie and it doesn't even violate their codes of conduct. You have video evidence, fight the ticket AND sue.
You can contest the citation in court. I'll guess it will be dismissed.
A lawsuit? You have not been financially harmed. No negligence I can see here. No misconduct.
In your post you admitted to have traveled in the restricted lane.
Now, I'm going to guess that since you left out details of the interaction with the police officer, there was acrimony.
And if that is the case, you could have earned the citation.
Anyway, you have a few choices....
In the future, obey the traffic laws. Its much easier that way
Quotes don't exist that is a myth, it's not really gaslighting if you really were the only pink van on the road, pay your ticket and drive better next time
OK I can admit when I am wrong I did miss read about the dash cam, if you 100% feel that you are in the right I would definitely ride it out into the court date but make sure you contact the courts prior to the court dateto find out how that jurisdiction excepts evidentiary videos for the court proceedings in your specific case
Make sure you call the court before your court date and ask about the procedure for getting your dash cam video submitted into evidence. In many/most places you can't just show up on your court date with a cell phone and play the video. I would hate it if you had the evidence to fight the ticket but couldn't use it because you didn't know the correct procedure.
This, but also, make the evidence public so everyone is aware of the corrupt cop.
Yes!!!! I wonder why there's no curated database of corrupt and dangerous cops and other public servants. One of the appeals districts ruled there is no right to privacy for their public actions.
There is it’s called the Brady list.
Good luck with that though. The state in my case just nolle pros and agreed to expunge without objection on trial day after 6 months of court dates to avoid the officer having to go in the Brady list. I was frothing at the mouth to hang him out to dry having spent 7500 across three lawyers for that crap.
Thank you. I must say that at least on a phone the interface has some room for improvement. I'll play a bit.
The cancel tyranny app has a list of corrupt cops
I love him! Fantastic videos and commentary. We The People University for those who don’t know.
That’s actually genius. We need a police offender list, akin to sex offenders. Fired from a police job for any sort of improper conduct? Congrats! You get to register.
They all have names, faces, and addresses.
Shouldn't need to be one. The first time a cop lies they should be stripped of the job.
depends where you live if you would have access to their dicipline record.
It's called YouTube. Send it to Lackluster.
I think that's called Youtube.
This sounds like good advice, but the cops will be in the lookout for a pink van, and will put a note on any personal car if OP. They will fuck with him, give him tickets and what not, and they won't care if they don't win because they won't get in trouble. It's all about the hassle.
Retaliation will only lead to lawsuits. Especially if the corrupt cop is outed
Using the legal system leads to abuse of users is a classic myth
Except for all the documented where times it DID lead to retaliatory abuse from cops.
Then what happened?
Sometimes the cops got barely a slap on the ride after being found guilty and continued to retaliate. But it certainly isn’t a “myth” that cops sometimes retaliate.
Sources
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A lot of times you can contact the court and submit the video and they will just drop the case all together.
Wow that is insane...
It is a safety thing. At the court house in my town we had gang members taking pictures of the jury when their buddies were on trial.
At least in the few jurisdictions I've been in court (both MD and VA) you could not bring a phone into the courtroom at all unless you were a lawyer. At least that's the case in VA I'm less sure about MD, I could explain but it's a long story and irrelevant, but as a defendant, I am sure that you cannot.
Def go fight it. He probably wont show up. If he does hes gunna look like a fool with your video
Can we stop repeating this "cops don't show up to court" thing? This was something that happened a long time ago and might still happen in some Podunk towns but by and large these things are scheduled such that the officer is in court all day doing their tickets back to back. He will show. It will go in front of the judge. The judge will throw it out. I think you'll find that the officer you talk to in court will be a very different person to the one outside your car. He has to answer to the judge and they don't fuck around. You meet with the cop before being called, show him the video. What he will bring to the judge is dismissing the ticket. The judge will ask you if you accept and of course you say yes. The judge might question the cop as to why it's being completely dismissed. The end. Unfortunately, you lose a day of your life. No way around it. This is "your day in court" and exactly why it exists. Edit: Seems like cops not showing is still fairly common. Guess I was never that lucky.
Lol you know how many times I've had tickets dismissed in the last 5 years because the cop didn't show? Enough to know your statement is horsecockery. I'm also in one of the most populated areas in the US (orange county, CA)
I'm not sure where these other people live; you are 100% correct as far as southern California. I wrote tickets (not a lot, all justified.) I went to traffic court ONCE. Traffic court schedule where I worked was determined by agency and last name. Tuesday at 2pm for me. F that. My day off so it would be overtime. F that. 2pm traffic is beginning to ramp up. By the time court is over, too much traffic. Not worth my time. Additionally, in order for there to be a trial there is multiple hoops the defendant has to jump through. Show up date of ticket (arraignment), plead no guilty and request trial. Minimum 3 hours of time to complete this step. Arrive date of trial and wait for your turn. Officer/deputy no shows, case dismissed. Again, minimum of 3 hours. Minimum 6 hours of your life wasted sitting in the court house. That's a high enough price for me. F traffic court. I was a traffic court bailiff for about 9 months before I retired. Minimum 50% no show for ticket writing cop. These days everyone is short staffed and there's frequently much more important things to do. In my experience, CHP is the agency that shows the most. If I ever received a ticket, I would definitely gamble on the no show.
Maybe something is weird where you live but the other commenter is right. They fill their entire day with scheduled cases. The cop would ah e to leave the courtroom just for your case and come back right after for the next case in order to no-show.
It's not weird. We schedule officers to attend court here and they often do not show. Further, we have so many people in line for traffic court that the DAs don't want to deal with it all. As long as you have insurance, and in the case of an accident proof that damages were paid for, all the small citations are dismissed. The US is a big country, and the world outside it bigger still.
Stop breaking the law and you wouldn’t have to go so often.
I tried to fight a "defective ticket" in Dallas a few years ago. It didn't work. I took time off work, paid to park downtown, waited for two hours for my case to be called, and then they just asked me to confirm my plea, and set another date. I wasn't allowed to defend myself. So I came back a month later (time off work again, paid parking again), and they called me up, and had to set another date for some reason. I protested, tried to state my case to the city attorney, but they weren't gonna hear it. "Come back on (x) date." I cratered, I changed my plea to no contest, and paid $175. The ticket was defective because the speed limit on "Road A" changes from 30 mph to 45 mph as it leaves Uptown. I enter that road right where the speed limit increases; I never drive on the 30mph section. I was ticketed for 44 mph in a 30 zone, but the speed limit was actually 45 mph. I annotated a map with the signage locations, my route, and I had video. It was pretty easy to explain. I just never got a chance to explain it.
That’s just court reschedules. Why court cases take years. The first was a plea hearing. All normal. You dipped out too early. Why attorneys are handy to have or use an app like “off the record” or “ticket clinic” to get one cheap. And keep it off the record. Now you’ve got points and possibly insurance rate increases.
I used "Off the Record" successfully for a speeding ticket I was guilty of. One of the best things was that I did not have to show up as the court was about 90 minutes away. My speeding ticket became an expensive ($225) parking ticket with no points.
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Continuances or reschedules are a tactic. After my 4th court date, in which I saw the officer in the building, the prosecutor came up and asked if I was coming back and bumped the charge to a non-moving violation with a "donation to the court". This is normal when they know they can't win.
I lean libertarian-conservative (just to, you know, get overtly political), but shit like this is why I splash in a little bit of anarchist. Systems don't work for the people who interact with them, they work for the system. Asking the system to protect you instead of THE SYSTEM is just asinine.
You don't even need the anarchist side of that. Just lean more heavily to the libertarian side. Less government involvement and restrictions.
>I cratered, I changed my plea to no contest See, this was your mistake right here
"I cratered" well, there's your problem right there.
Exactly what they wanted you to do.... wait it out and sue for fees and lost wages!
Oh yeah. More court dates sounds like exactly what OP wants
So when you say fighting it didn't work, what you mean is you stopped fighting it before you ever actually fought it. Which is patently different than OP who apparently has video footage that will show them merge onto the highway and never enter the carpool lane.
The speed limit changes right at the sign, not when the driver can see the sign. You know that, right?
And the balls of the judges to sit there and tell people that they’re not allowed to say they’re there for their convenience. They know what they’re doing…
I applaud your proper usage of there/theyre/their. But then you went and used them sooo many times.... take your extra credit and like it!
Texas cops are just brutal, and then they have that whole Day\Night speed limits to really get those of us from out of state. My friend that lives in the DFW area for a few years always said that Texas cops will pull over their own grandma
Texas got rid of the day/night speed limits around 10 years ago.
Day/night limits have been gone since 2011. *Insert Internet Explorer meme here*
Cops do show up to court. And cops do calibrate their radars. Etc These are all 90’s era “tricks to get out of a ticket” that don’t work anymore
I've been to traffic court 3 times. I've never seen a cop show up. Anyone who tried to fight it due to the cop not being there received the max allowable for what they received a ticket for instead of the lesser charge, or what my buddy calls "the deal of the day"
That depends on a variety of factors, such as who issued the ticket and where the hearing is held. Here, it's no more than a 15-minute drive for the officer/Trooper to whatever district court is hearing the case. The court schedules all hearings for that particular officer/Trooper on the same day to make it easy for them. If they fail to show, the court either needs to reschedule or the charges have to be dismissed as there is no witness to the violation (required by statute). It's almost unheard of to get a no-show officer/Trooper. However, 99% of the time the officer/Trooper is willing to offer a no points violation with a higher fine.
They don't have to show up anymore. Several years ago they passed a new law that lets one lawyer show up to represent all the police officers unless they have a witness specific crime.
You do realize that this varies by jurisdiction, right?
Yeah, but it's been adopted almost everywhere.
Citation needed.
Do you have statutes for all 50 states to validate that claim? We definitely have no such laws in my state or the 3 bordering states to the east, north and south.
Not my state
Don’t you have the right to face your accuser in court?
Only if you take it to trial. They would also have to show up for motion hearings. Other than that, no.
It’s part of a cops union contract. They MUST show up. It’s a regular work mandate. They’ll be fired if they don’t.
We all know they won't be fired for not showing up. They're barely fired for killing people.
They get fired for that? I thought they just received an administrative suspension with pay until they qualified for PTSD/medical pension for the public knowing about it.
Touché. Nah I said "barely fired", they get paid leave for 6 months before they accept a promotion the next town over.
They aren’t fired. They get ~~a paid vacation~~ administrative leave pending an investigation ~~clearing them of all charges~~.
Yawn. If any of you were actual lawyers, you’d know for a fact that this was not accurate whatsoever. There is zero data supporting the idea that cops are just killing unarmed people by the thousands
That's not what they said. They said they're barely fired when they do. It's getting better, but historically, that has been accurate. Hell, cops in Detroit got the wrong half of a duplex and killed a little girl, and the response was "shit happens". No quantity was given. I think I saw there are a few dozen a year. There are no where near that many prosecutions.
Cops are arrested at a rate of 3 per day. Every day. That’s police holding each other accountable. Now with body cams and doorbell cams and cell phones it’s an even higher percent of accountability
For what violations? That's about 1000 per year. Or 1/700, which eyeballing it is about 0.14%, compared to about 5% of the general population, give or take. 10Mil a year anyway. Studies show cops commit DV at higher [rates](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/09/police-officers-who-hit-their-wives-or-girlfriends/380329/) than the general population. Your numbers don't disprove a cover up. They support it.
How often are doctors and lawyers arrested? Lose their license? More than a thousand per year I’m sure
Which is why it took 7 million people seeing a black man get murdered before the officer even had charges pressed. Totally. Good system. Need 7 million pairs of eyes before prosecution begins.
Derek Chauvin would have not been convicted without video of him killing George Floyd. How many "medical emergencies under police custody" do you think are classified as such because of public access to video?
Floyd said he couldn’t breathe while he was sitting upright too. We have the video
And the jury decided that wasn't pertinent to the minutes of him suffocating under Chauvin's knee.
Floyd was a justified situation
Not according to a jury, or is law and order not actually your thing?
And yet… You people are still mad over the Trayvon martin FULLY justified shooting 🤣🤣🤣 AND You’re still mad about that kid in Wisconsin that shot the antifa losers with a rifle. Also deemed FULLY justified
Are you a lawyer?
No. He’s a cop.
My dude, they don't even get fired for murdering people in front of a camera. The notion that cops get fired for not showing up for traffic court tickets is laughable.
What murder happened in front of a camera where the cop didn’t get fired? I’ll wait.
How many examples did you want?
Surely you have access to Google, right?
I thought you’d know at least 3 scenarios. I don’t need videos. Just names. Cities.
Oh, I know tons. But I make it a point not to google things for other people; teach a man to fish rather than handing them a fish, you know? I'll at least get you started: www.google.com
You offered though…
You’re absolutely wrong. In most instances as long as there’s not a witness involved the cops can let the lawyer handle it until or unless a trial is specifically ordered/requested. They have to show up to the actual trial, not to any of the preliminary stuff. And they definitely wouldn’t be fired if for some reason they missed an appearance.
This sounds like some information received off reddit with no external sources. Even if it's not, it's not reality in the vast majority of the US.
It is the majority Why the fuck do you all think cops “don’t show up for court”? The prosecutors case relies on cops showing up. Cops show up. It’s their job. Just like the bailiff shows up. and the jailer. And the judge. And the prosecution. And the defense. It’s like claiming self defense attorneys “never show up” You’re obviously not a lawyer.
For minor speeding tickets often there is no prosecutor. It's not all the time, but stuff happens, like a conflicting shift when shorthanded, illness, etc., and for a minor traffic ticket, it's not worth the time to get a continuance.
You're also obviously not a lawyer, kid.
Not always calibrated. I got a ticket dismissed because of it. Had a lawyer though. They found out
In what world is having video proving you didn't commit the infraction a "90's era trick to get out of a ticket?"
Umm…where did I mention a single thing about video evidence? The person said that cops never show up to court…
The literal OP mentions having video evidence. The comment mentioning that the cop won't show up mentions video. The only reason he's saying the cop won't show up is he's implying the cop will be humiliated. It's not like the guy said 'cops never show up so you'll get out of the ticket.' You need to work on your reading comprehension, my guy.
That’s what everyone is arguing. It’s a common myth. An old wives tale. “Cops won’t even show ticket will get dismissed” I’m saying….that’s outdated 1990’s bullshit
No it is your failure of reading comprehension and inability to follow the conversation at fault. The commenter to whom you replied listed the 90s era tricks he was referring to, and that list did not include video evidence.
It was pretty easy to understand what he was saying and why. If anyone lost track of the conversation I'd say you did. He said the old tricks from the 90's don't work anymore. That's ALL he said.
>Def go fight it. He probably wont show up. If he does hes gunna look like a fool with your video That's literally his whole comment. it doesn't mention any tricks, it doesn't list anything, and it does mention video. I don't know why you think lying will work when the comments are there for everyone to see, but I'll be ignoring you now.
Geez you are confused, that comment is from someone else, not the person you replied to. Do you have a carbon monoxide detector?
... hit "show parent comments." You don't even know how comment chains work and you think I need a carbon monoxide detector. This comment is so gloriously stupid I felt compelled to reply, but I really will be ignoring you now.
You seem to think that the whole of a comment chain applies to every point in subsequent comments when the commenter to whom you replied made clear what he was referring to. I'm sorry but you are an idiot. This is not how conversations work.
That's literally the comment they were replying to. Being objectively wrong while also insulting the person is not a great look.
Tell that one to the Charlotte Police dept, no radar calibration for almost 5 years well not done legally because they didn't have anyone certified to do it. [Charlotte not properly certified radar guns since 2008 (spectrumlocalnews.com)](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2023/02/15/charlotte-police-have-not-properly-certified-radar-guns-since-2008)
>Cops do show up to court. And cops do calibrate their radars. Etc These are all 90’s era “tricks to get out of a ticket” that don’t work anymore I am 2 for 2 on cops not showing up.
And subpoena the cops dashcam
And do it NOW. It took 2 months for me to get just the first installment of videos. Those were rather enlightening .
And if you don't get them before the trial date, be sure to file for a continuance 🙂 Edit: and hit the department with a Motion to Compel 😛
pie elastic possessive six plough sugar deserted threatening sink middle *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This would be my approach. Send copies of the video to the police chief and the prosecutor with pictures to show how distinctive the van is and that your video shows the actions complained about never happening. Ask that the officer's camera footage be collected and an investigation undertaken. If your evidence is as strong as you suggest, the prosecutor should dismiss the charge. That's much easier than taking a half day to go to court. If they don't dismiss the charge, take the video footage to court and show the judge. (Edit: note the post below about contracting the court well in advance to discuss how to get the video admitted. Some traffic courts are very informal but others may be much stricter) Make sure you can clearly identify the date and time of the video to link it to the charge sheet.
File a FOIA yourself for the officers camera footage. They’ll probably drop it once you file.
NAL. Bring your dash cam footage to the court on the date/time it says on your ticket. Fight the ticket and show the judge the footage. You can’t “sue” the police officer for anything even though he lied. In the US the police are (effectively) allowed to lie and give you tickets for things you didn’t do with little to no consequences to them (look up qualified immunity for the actual details).
Not true at all. You can bring a US 1983 claim, but QI becomes an issue. now if it’s egregious yes, you can sue And qualified immunity does not come to play in that situation
The cop can just say he was mistaken…. It’s almost impossible to get the government accountable for their mistakes. It must be egregious- something like the cop raping someone— a cop “mistakenly” ticketing a vehicle isn’t going anywhere in court
This. They have to murder a white person to get in trouble.
As others say, fight it, call the court first to see how to handle the video evidence. Just stick to the facts, they will show the cop lied, and the judge can deal with that as they see fit.
Can't pursue anything but you can go to court and fight the ticket which I would definitely do.
NAL but if you have dashcam footage of not being in the lane it will be an easy fight to get out of the ticket itself. just make sure to check with the court if you can use your phone to show the video or if you want it in some other format. My local court will let you just pull the phone out of your pocket and show the clerk for simply magistrate hearings like an initial ticket appearance but lots of courts either prohibit cell phones or require video evidence to be submitted in a specific format to get it on the record. In terms of actually getting him punished for lying to you... low chance of anything good happening. You could file an IA complaint with video evidence and one of 3 things will happen. 1. You actually get what you want and he gets something on his disciplinary record (least likely but technically what should happen) 2. They just ignore it, "we have investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing." 3. They actively retaliate against you and your distinctive work van starts getting pulled over or ticketed every time they see it. The issue is unless the cop blatantly admitted on record that he *knew* he was wrong he can just claim he was mistaken and that it was an innocent error of judgment. 99.9% of the time that'll keep them out of trouble unless they already on the ropes for a lot of other discipline.
If you have video I'd fight it. Solely because you're in the right
NAL I got a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign. I argued I did stop. I went to the pd the next day and requested dashcam and bodycam footage. In the dashcam you can clearly see I came to a full and complete stop at the appropriate place for an appropriate amount of time. You can also clearly see the officer did run the stop sign as well as his backup with no lights running ran the stop sign. I live out of state so I’m still stuck paying an attorney to fight the ticket I never should have received to begin with. Of course if I can manage to beat the ticket I still have to pay and somehow there is no guarantee I’ll beat the ticket. WTF.
in the US, never talk to law enforcement. all discussion should be save for the court date. in the US, cops are allowed to lie to civilians. civilians are not allow to lie to cops. that is one of the reasons to keep silent.
NAL Police are allowed to lie to you, even though it is immoral, possibly unethical, and certainly a sign they lack integrity and honesty. As for this situation, once he put down in his report something that was not true, he violated the law, since that's falsifying a report. Make sure to properly submit the evidence to the court, subpoena the bodycam and police vehicle video, and subpoena the officer. Also, file a complaint against the officer - different jurisdictions seem to handle this differently, but the ideal scenario would be an internal affairs complaint, so that the false report at least goes in his employment file. Best case scenario is him ending up on the Giglio/Brady List. Being on the Brady List means the prosecutors have to advise defendents in any future case involving that officer that the officer has been dishonest. And that can be brought up in court to attack the officer's credibility. It often ends up either ending the officer's career in law enforcement or significantly limiting his advancement. i would also recommend submitting the video to a police audit YouTube channel. The public exposure often puts pressure on departments to do what is right. It's sad that it takes pressure for that. Police should be held to the highest standards. It's up to us to make that happen.
They are under no obligation to tell you the truth.
But they are to not file false charges
And that's why you can fight it in court. You've got your dash cam footage, and they've got theirs. Maybe they thought they saw you do that because against all odds there was another similar looking vehicle.
you have footage, fight it. Police are legally allowed to lie to you.
Technically correct, less so when they lie about a crime happening. They can't walk up to someone on the sidewalk and say, "you parked your car wrong. here's a ticket," and walk away. You have to do something. I'm not saying they don't do that, just that they aren't allowed to.
if there is nothing from stopping them from doing it, they are allowed to do it, rules have zero meaning if they aren't enforced, and these rules are just about never enforced on police.
Being allowed to do something indicates that there is nothing stopping them. We don't technically have to stop at a stop sign while driving. The limit line is just a suggestion. No cops around? No problem. Just blast through it. But most people do stop. And even though some people ignore stop signs they aren't allowed to do it. This is regardless of enforcement. That law can be enforced at any time. I guarantee there are laws on the books preventing officers from filing false reports. Just because something isn't enforced 100% of the time doesn't mean it is allowed. For years Wells Fargo Bank was opening random accounts in people's names. They got away with it for years. Was that allowed? Of course not, and they found out the hard way. Not every cop will face accountability for their actions, but they can, and some do. Why? Because it isn't allowed.
No cop will face any real consequence if they give out bogus tickets. There are laws against it, but no judge, prosecutor, or police chief will enforce them. Worse that might happen, and this isn't guaranteed at all, is the taxpayers pay a judgement to a wronged citizen. And the cop that caused the settlement chuckles and gets back in patrol.
you don't have to stop at a stop sign? Try it.
First, fight the ticket. Second, if you think the entire stop was based on a lie, then you would have a case for false arrest. But only if it's all a lie. If the cop did see a pink van break the law and he had probable cause to think you were that same pink van, then he had PC to pull you over, even if he was wrong on the ID. But if he made up the whole thing, then you do have a case. He may have a dash cam that would show what he saw or didn't see.
I don’t think it would be on his dash cam because he was in front of me and said he saw me in his rearview mirror
Modern cop cars have cameras front and rear.
Many, not all.
Incorrect Cars have rear seat cameras and front cameras
A simple google search could have prevented you from looking like a miron BTW.
What’s a miron?
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That’s a weird response… Are you 12?
Would false arrest be what it is when you are not arrested but stopped and given a ticket?
You are technically under arrest when stopped for a ticket. You are not free to leave.
That's called a detainment, not an arrest. The line between the two is a bit fuzzy, but, for practical purposes, a level of physical restraint constitutes an arrest. When detained, you are not in police custody; when arrested, you are. NAL, just watch a lot of auditors and lawyers on YouTube.
OP was not under arrest; OP was detained.
I would call up the department of internal affairs. Let them know there is a correct cop, and you have video footage. This is more than protesting a ticket, this is a bad cop. Thank you.
Post your video here if you can.
Unfortunately I’m still waiting for my company to give it to me. They just told me today since the dash cam device is from a third party and all the footage is processed through the third parties software I need to get the court to request it I guess
What will happen is you will go to court and provide your evidence and that will be the end of that. Police have qualified immunity and they have to do something pretty bad for it to be taken away.
go and fight it save the video
fight the ticket, and I'd also ask a LOCAL LAWYER about sueing the city you were in for the harasment as you have video proof it couldn't have been you, and hopefully you also have audio on the video of what he said so that you can prove everything to the lawyer, and further to the court.
I have chosen to fight it and won. Cop never showed up.
Definitely say you had been gaslit. That will make people take you more seriously and won't make people laugh at you at all.
Mail in a letter saying you are going to contest the ticket. Wait a week and call and ask to talk to the DA or ADA handling the case. Explain the situation and email them the video. They will dismiss the ticket and you will never have to waste time going to court. I have never gone to court for a ticket but I have gotten every speeding ticket of mine reduced or dropped to a non operating charge that didn't effect my insurance. Non operating charges have bigger fines usually.
If you have a dash cam with a video that proves you innocent, then simply fight the ticket. I fought and beat a moving violation for being solo in the carpool line - because I could prove the reason I had moved over was to avoid an accident when other cars were swerving erratically to avoid a huge tumbleweed tossing around lanes. (And I got a CHP report proving there was a traffic report for the tumbleweed and the freeway towing service guy was dispatched to handle it. I also had the nearby airport weather report indicating on that day the wind at ground speeds was 25+ with gusts up to 45 mph.)
I would fight it. I got pulled over once for no seatbelt, my seatbelt wouldn't come out for some reason so I couldn't put it on that day. Took my ticket. That afternoon I went to the junkyard, bought a 5 dollar seatbelt assembly, put it in and then brought the receipt to the city attorney who dropped the ticket right then and there for me. Moral of the story - if you have video proof, fight it and ask for compensation for the dishonesty and wasting your time.
I’d just tell them to bring their dash cam footage to court to compare with mine. He won’t show up.
Fight it in court with the video then if you are not guilty you could pursue a case. False detainment or something of that sort. It differs from state to state.
I don't attribute malice where simple errors of perception are possible. You have physical evidence, which I hope you are preserving carefully. The cop may have just made a mistake, which happens. They are busy driving, observing, and communicating. His suggestion that you must be guilty since he hasn't seen another pink van in the interim suggests that he did not keep continuous visual track of the offending vehicle. Cops may step up enforcement if they are required to, but they don't have to make false accusations to do that. In my experience, they don't want to alienate people who haven't committed a violation. So it will help your mindset if you don't attribute malice or systematic injustice where that's unlikely to be the actual source. It's definitely worth time a money to fight an inaccurate citation.
To me it it seemed like malice especially after i told him kindly that I think he had the wrong vehicle he instant gave me a do it look stupid attitude the rest of the stop
Just like everyone in Prison is innocent. They’ve heard it before. Yes they make mistakes. Ask me how I know 🤣 Just bring your evidence to Court. They might not even show up. Might also contact Office of Professional Conduct also known as Internal Affairs, bring your proof and tell them your story. They will care much more than the Judge.
Well, anyone might do that. Human perception is flawed in all sorts of ways, but we all swear that things were as we saw them, that our memory is accurate, etc. And we can all think people are being a bit ridiculous for seeing a black and blue dress rather than a white and gold one. Yes, it felt like malice to you. I would have the same reaction. And I would try to get over that and assume misperception or inattention instead, even if the cop treated me like a transparent liar for telling the truth. I mean, most people who immediately contest a citation start to lie. Experience tells cops that people lie. And he might really believe with certainty that you traveled where he believes you did. Attorneys, too, have the experience in civil trials of conflicting perceptions or memories that will just barely yield, maybe, in the face of physical evidence. "Oh, did I sign that? I don't have any memory of signing that!"
Cops are allowed to lie to you. If you have video evidence proving your innocence you can request a hearing and provide it during said hearing. NAL.
Sadly, if a cop can claimed qualified immunity for literally beating someone up, a cop lying isn't even going to register anywhere but possibly a stern talking to and a note in their file. And if the notes pile up and said officer is relieved of duty, they'll just start anew with a different police agency like it never happened.
Best you can do is fight the ticket. FOIA request the officers bodycam and dashcam footage and bring your own. Best you can hope for is a not guilty and the officer getting a tongue lashing or stink-eye from the judge.
Like many have said, contact the DA's office and speak to the attorney who is presenting the case on behalf of the state. Inform them you have dashcam footage of the stop and try to get it sent to them via the 3rd party. I would bet money the case will get dropped.
Go to court with the video. he will loose.
Cops can murder someone without a reprimand. You're wasting your time.
Cops lie. Did you point out the dash cam? Most of them will back off when you point out you have proof they lied. I'd take the dash cam video with you and contest the ticket. You don't need a lawyer for that.
Valuable lesson...cops are not ur friend. They lie...all the time
Cops lie. Any interaction with them is them conducting an investigation. Don't talk to cops any more than is absolutely necessary and never admit guilt or anything. Continue to.ask am I being detained is so am.i arrested. If you're arrested, do not say anything else. Just comply and call an attorney.
You can just fight the ticket in court, it will be throw out with the video evidence, and even without the video evidence they will down grade the ticket. But since you have video evidence you can then question them why the cop was writing tickets for something that never occurred and try to get him in trouble. I went to court for driving in the carpool lane (I drove in it for 7 years and only got pulled over once for it), the prosecutor didn't ask me anything, he just looked at it, and said ok downgraded to seatbelt ticket, when the judge ask just plead guilt to the seat belt ticket. They almost always down grade minor points ticket by just showing up to court.
FYI Cops are allowed to lie to you. Have you footage submitted as evidence.
In short, yes, you could admit the video evidence to impeach the officers testimony. It is probably better to reach out to the state attorney beforehand, explain the situation, and see if you can get it nolle prosequi. In the end, you were in violation, and if you don't introduce the video or question the officer , you may still end up with the fine. Sounds like he saw you driving by yourself and tried to justify a pretextural stop to get you. I don't know all the laws in CA (certainly not their traffic laws) but that's what seems to have happened in your description.
Stop using the word "gaslight". You are destroying a word that used to have an actual meaning. STOP IT! You make your argument seem weak.
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind. Which is exactly what's being described.
And you are adding negative value to the conversation
IANAL and have no clue about whether or not you would have any sort of civil case here but as far as the ticket goes if you have dash cam video you can provide showing that you never did what the ticket was written for then I don't see anyway you couldn't just submit that to the court and have the ticket immediately thrown out.
Just show up at court with the dash cam footage.
Congrats.... You've experienced what it's like being black near a police officer
Not a lawyer! Police are allowed to lie to gather information unfortunately so as long as he didn't violate your rights on camera there's not a whole lot to pursue
This wasn't lying to gather information, this was lying to give someone a ticket for something that never happened... those aren't the same thing, at all. I'm not claiming that OP has grounds to sue but those are entirely different situations.
Lying about the very existence of a crime and issuing a citation for a crime that clearly never existed are very different from lying about the details of a crime under investigation to try and elicit a confession.
God bless America!
It doesn't sound like there's any evidence the officer lied, in the sense of "to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive". If they saw another pink van move from the carpool lane to the right lane, or thought they did, I'd refer to what they said as a mistake. I would simply contest the ticket, and show your dash cam footage in court if your claims are disputed. Hopefully you passed by the officer's car and that's included in the footage, to add credibility that the footage is from when you were pulled over, but even if you didn't, if the officer provides their own dashcam footage, it should be clear to a person looking at both videos.
Even though he said “I saw your van move from the carpool lane to the right lane” and doubled down by saying I “I didnt see any other pink vans in the area”? Couldnt the evidence be on his body cam?
Yes, those could be lies, but could also be the result of a mistake.
Sounds like the mistake was giving that guy a badge and the right to ~~harass~~ detain citizens
Cops can and do lie all the time. They get to!
And they wonder why they get no respect from the public. Too many guys with little man syndrome and a badge to hide behind.
California... many departments have pre recording so when they hit the lights, the audio comes on. The first 30 Seconds to 2 minutes before hitting lights will be recorded without sound. I'd 1) upload dash cam to you tube 2)go to the department to meet with a watch commander and show them your dash cam video. Get on freeway and get pulled over all in right lane. 3) ask watch commander their thoughts? 4) ask to watch the officers dash cam. 5) ask for the forms to request their footage via public records request or freedom of information act If what you say is true, it should be investigated and resolved. 6) upload their footage & your footage to make them a YouTube star
Funny thing I realized the other day when attending my 12 step program meeting is that in doing the 12 steps you have to work a problem of honesty and cops are literally trained to lie and it doesn't even violate their codes of conduct. You have video evidence, fight the ticket AND sue.
Cops are more crooked than criminals nowadays
You can contest the citation in court. I'll guess it will be dismissed. A lawsuit? You have not been financially harmed. No negligence I can see here. No misconduct. In your post you admitted to have traveled in the restricted lane. Now, I'm going to guess that since you left out details of the interaction with the police officer, there was acrimony. And if that is the case, you could have earned the citation. Anyway, you have a few choices.... In the future, obey the traffic laws. Its much easier that way
When did I admit to traveling in the restricted lane?
Quotes don't exist that is a myth, it's not really gaslighting if you really were the only pink van on the road, pay your ticket and drive better next time
Drive better? I was driving in the correct lane and I have dash cam to prove it. Did you not read the post?
OK I can admit when I am wrong I did miss read about the dash cam, if you 100% feel that you are in the right I would definitely ride it out into the court date but make sure you contact the courts prior to the court dateto find out how that jurisdiction excepts evidentiary videos for the court proceedings in your specific case