Trucker-hating cop

I got a ticket for doing 75 in a 65 zone.  I didn't admit it to the cop, but I was actually going a little over the speed limit, about 70 mph.  Sped up to go around some old people who were running neck-and-neck in the left two lanes of the three-lane highway.  If he'd have put 70 mph instead of 75, I might have just paid it and went on.

Here's the stupid part:  I was in my personal vehicle.  But when the cop saw that I had a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), he said he was going to accuse me of going 87 mph.

On the Missouri Uniform Traffic Tickets, there is a little box marked "CDL" which is supposed to have a letter code in it.  That would be "A" for a tractor-trailer, "B" for a straight truck, or "C" for a license to haul hazardous materials or 16 or more persons.  This cop wrote the number "87" in there. He told me that "his judge" knows how he operates (by writing a different speed in the CDL box), and that if I fight this ticket, he's going to get the judge to find me guilty of going 87 mph.  He kept making threats against my CDL as well, as a ticket above 15 mph is considered a "serious traffic violation" and if I get another one in three years, my CDL can be suspended for 60 days.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't transfer the case to county, so that the cop won't have "his judge" there, and then show the county judge the how the cop is basically a liar and a trucker-hater, because he's willing to say I was going two different speeds.

Also, the cop pulled me over because I was driving my old rusty work car, rather than my nice one that I use on weekends.  This is kind of an uppity, snotty neighborhood where I live.

I wanted to post this here before I go attorney-shopping.

Dave381:

I got a ticket for doing 75 in a 65 zone. I didn't admit it to the cop, but I was actually going a little over the speed limit, about 70 mph.

You were sppeding - doesn't really matter that you said you were doing 70 and the officer put 75 since your speedomoter could be off.

Dave381:

This cop wrote the number "87" in there.

What did the officer write down as the speed you were traveling? 70 / 75 / 87

Dave381:

I'm wondering if I shouldn't transfer the case to county, so that the cop won't have "his judge" there, and then show the county judge the how the cop is basically a liar and a trucker-hater, because he's willing to say I was going two different speeds.

If you take this to trial you will be asked what speed you were traveling - when you admit to going 70 in a 65 the officer will win since you were speeding.

Personally I would see if there is a class that you can take to keep the ticket off of your record and make sure you drive the speed limit all of the time.

>>What did the officer write down as the speed you were traveling? 70 / 75 / 87<<

The speed he put as me traveling was 75MPH.  But he said he's going to change it to 87MPH if I take it to court. He wrote the "87" in the "CDL Type" box on the ticket, and said that "his judge" (Police are assigned judges in this town, strangely) would go along with the 87MPH if I fight the ticket.  There is not ever to be a number in the "CDL class" field, only a letter--A, B, or C.

>>If you take this to trial you will be asked what speed you were traveling - when you admit to going 70 in a 65 the officer will win since you were speeding.<<

I'm not stupid enough to admit in court that I was speeding, I just stated that here.

When you fight a traffic ticket in court, it's not so much about whether or not the law was broken.  Going one mile over the speed limit is breaking the law.  The idea is to keep cops from pulling people over and writing them tickets for stupid little things like this.  They need to have a good reason.

Also, it is not a defendant's job to prove anything in court.  That is the prosecutor's job.  My question here is, basically, since the cop has already demonstrated himself to be someone who will change his version of what happened depending on other circumstances--AKA a LIAR, can I use this as a defense?  It seems to me that if the prosecution demonstrates itself to be dishonest, then the defendant cannot be convicted based on their testimony.

If someone has a better idea altogether, I'm wide open to suggestions.

BTW--any time I have ever been handed a traffic ticket, it always coincides with the local news media reporting how the police department is experiencing budgeting problems.  Imagine that.

By speeding you gave the cop a reason to pull you over.

You are incensed by his lie - yet you plan on lying in court yourself.

You were in the wrong. Pay the ticket and watch your speed.

>>By speeding you gave the cop a reason to pull you over.<<

This is not, however, the reason he pulled me over.  He did so because of my old, ugly work/errand car.  This town I live in (Kansas City) has really crummy public transportation, and so, if you have an old beater that still runs, you'd better keep it and use it as a backup.

>>You are incensed by his lie - yet you plan on lying in court yourself.

You were in the wrong. Pay the ticket and watch your speed.<<

Are there any attorneys here who make it their job to WIN?  And who are not also haters of working people and police suck-ups?

"Are there any attorneys here who make it their job to WIN?  And who are not also haters of working people and police suck-ups?"

No one here hates working people or sucks up to cops.  You may not like Lynn's answer but I hate to tell you this it's the correct one.  Yes, the cop lied and is a jerk but the reality is it doesn't matter WHAT traffic court it's in the Judge gives greater weight to the cop's testimony. That's how it goes in traffic court.

Your options are to hire an attorney to go into court and fight the ticket for you...and most likely lose and spend a lot of money on a lawyer.

Or pay the ticket and watch your speed next time.  Missouri may give you the option for traffic school to keep the points off your license.  That may help too if it's an option take that too. 

You can use the "Find A Lawyer" feature to locate a Missouri attorney that you think will WIN the case for you.  No Missouri attorneys participate in the boards at this time.

Dave381:

Also, it is not a defendant's job to prove anything in court. That is the prosecutor's job.

The prosecutor or judge will ask the officer what your speed was - the officer will state what's on the ticket and you will loose. Case closed - pay the fines, court costs and have teh ticket added to your license.

Dave381:

BTW--any time I have ever been handed a traffic ticket, it always coincides with the local news media reporting how the police department is experiencing budgeting problems. Imagine that.

That should be your clue to do the speed limit.

A couple of observations. First, you are assuming that the cop is right that the local judge would, in fact, know what that 87 means and knowingly convict you of going faster than you really were. Given that the cop is apparently a liar already, how do you know that his claim on that is true rather than just another lie in an effort to keep you from challenging the ticket?

Second, you need to know whether how much over the speed limit you were makes a difference in the penalties. If it does, then the details of those provisions would affect your strategy here. 

Third, you are correct that the prosecution must make its case against you. You need not admit to speeding at all. But you also cannot lie to the court, so you can't say that you were doing 65 when you know you were doing at least 70, either. Your strategy here may well be to simply cast doubt on the state's case by showing its witness, the cop, to be a liar. The problem here will be making that case.

If he testifies that he clocked you at 75 (which presumably matches what is in the blank for the speed) and abandons the whole 87 nonsense, then you all you are left with is trying to impeach his testimony with your own statements as to what he said and the mysterious 87 written in a box that has nothing to do with the speed you were going. Whether that would be enough to clearly show the cop lied depends on exactly what gets said in court. Even then, the court may conclude he lied to you about claiming you went 87 but told the truth about going 75 and convict you on that.

If he testifies you were going 87, but the ticket says in the speed box 75, you'd have a better shot at proving the lie by impeaching him with the 75 written on the ticket. Here again, the judge might convict you on the 75, deciding that was the real truth of the matter, rather than throwing it out entirely because the judge can't determine what the real speed was. Again, a lot would depend on exactly how it played out in court. You need to remember that even good judges in traffic court will tend to believe the cop's testimony unless you can clearly show it to be wrong because they assume the cop has no reason to lie about it and they hear excuse after excuse every day from speeders trying to get off on the charges. So, you need to have a convincing case to overcome that.