[DeTomaso] Law Abiding Citizen vs. The Great State of California

[Trevor Fougere]

Back in September I got pulled over and issued a ticket that stated I was
doing 112 MPH in a 65 MPH zone in the Pantera.

 

Naturally, being a peaceful and law abiding citizen, I was outraged.  Was
this some kind of speedometer error?

Was he using metric units?

 

So.I hauled my innocent ass down to traffic court and asked for a Trial by
Declaration.  You post the fine

(in this case $535 plus a potential 2 points against the license and a
mandatory 30 day suspension) and have

a month to file your side of things.  Naturally, since I was driving at the
speed limit, I wrote that down and 

submitted the paperwork.

 

In the event the hard working officer of the law fails to submit his
paperwork, the case gets dismissed and

bail gets refunded.  My research has shown that this will happen
approximately 30-35% of the time.

 

In the event you lose, this is about the only place in California law where
you automatically get the right

to have a trial de novo (in front of a judge) after having already been
"convicted".  Bearing in mind that anything 

you state in your trial by declaration may be used against you.

 

Today, my dismissal showed up in the mail.

 

Chalk up one for the good guys!

 

Trevor

#3797