I’ve finished my motion for discovery and another question has arisen.
Can I depose the officer?
I’d like to get his story before I hear it in court. Anyone have experience with a deposition in traffic court?
Depends on your state law. In Connecticut you can’t depose a cop in minor (infraction and misdemeanor) cases like speed traps.
JB
Lex Non Favet Delicatorum Votis
In Michigan (and I assume elsewhere), if the officer who issued the citation does not show up in court on the day of the hearing on your ticket and give his side of the story, the case is generally thrown out.
I would think that as long as you didn’t hijack the hearing with a laundry list of questions, the overseeing court official (usually a magistrate here and not a judge) would allow you to ask the officer a question or two to clear up some facts.
BTW, anyone else ever hear that if you are fined, say, $70, pay the court with a check for $75. They will eventually send you a check back for the $5, and, if you never cash it, the matter will remain unresolved in their computers and the ‘points’ will not show up on your license.
Sounds like a UL to me.
“In much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” - Ecclesiastes 1:18
Milo, johnny isn’t asking if he can cross-examine the officer at court during his trial. THAT right he most certainly has by law.
What he wants to know is if he can depose the officer, that is, ask him questions under oath in a special proceding before a court reporter prior to the trial, a form of ‘discovery’. That will depend on the law of his state; usually the answer would be ‘no’.
Yes. And it is: http://www.snopes.com/spoons/faxlore/ticket.htm
I am an avid follower of Urban Legends, but I want to make a point on this one. Why? Because it personally happened to ME. I received a ticket. I went to court, and was subsequently fined. I went to the cashiers window to pay the fine only to find out that they didn’t take personally checks. It was either money order or cold hard cash. I had neither on me. They said they would hold it for me if since I told them I’d come back with the money. To make a long story short, I never came back. I figured if I ever got stopped in that town again, I’d deal with it then. Well, I did get stopped in that town again, I thought I was going to to the pokey for sure. Nothing came up on their computers or anything. I don’t know why, but they don’t have me flagged. I was able to renew my license w/o a problem… something my wife couldn’t do because of an umpaid traffic ticket. I don’t know why, but it happened, and I think it’s related to them pulling my file, but then me never paying the fine.
Enright3
Geez, I gotta stop posting in the middle of the night… of course I meant "They didn’t take PERSONAL checks. If there are any more errors, assume I’m correcting those too. sigh
Enright3
I have been deposed and cross-examined, sucks. Cops are usually really good at it, especially ones who get hauled in a lot, namely traffic cops/detectives.
I’m just interested in getting his story straight the first time, so I won’t be surprised in court. Then I might have a better idea of where to look to see if he violated any policies or procedures, which is my basic defense anyway. Or he might just tell inconsistent stories - good fodder to the jury, I would think.
johnny, I’m probably not much help, because I haven’t “enforced” in Texas. It appears that some states, such as NY, have written officer depositions as standard fare (from what I’ve read, they seem to be more like canned interrogatories).
In FL, speeding citations are civil infractions; as such, some of the rights you might think you have do not apply, because you are not in danger of losing your personal freedom but only your “privilege” of driving. For example, you do not have the right to a jury trial in a civil infraction hearing. Following that same logic, you may not be able to request a deposition…but I simply don’t know about Texas.
Even if you could depose, there is likely to be significant expense involved. Again, depending on the state rules of procedure, you might need a court reporter; you might also need to pay the officer a statutory payment for appearing (this was the case in FL, but may not hold true in TX).
JBenz or DSYoung might know if, assuming you cannot or do not want to depose, an interrogatory might be both allowed and more useful for your purposes. Granted, you won’t get the opportunity to ask follow-ups, but it still might be useful.
If you haven’t already, you might check out this site.
Thanks, Raza. I’ll call the court and see if they will provide me with a statement.
Although I don’t want to spend any money (that’s the point after all), I’m beginning to see this as an opportunity to learn something and gain experience with a process I heretofore have very little experience with. Maybe I’m taking a trivial attitude to this, but this is kind of fun. I’ve been going to traffic court and watching the proceedings, etc. We’ll see. Even if I don’t win, at least I’ll have learned something.
We don’t have a right to depose an officer in advance in Canada, but there is a right to disclosure of the Crown’s case, including notes by police officers. You might inquire if you can get a photocopy of the officer’s notebook, which you may find useful in cross-examination.
and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel to toe
OK - an update. I have yet to be arraigned in Houston city court (week after next…), but I am taking the advice of many of the nice folks here and requesting pertinent information from state agencies that might help me make a case. Last week a requested this information from the Texas Department of Public Safety (‘DPS’ - State Police - the nice men in the brown shirts and cowboy hats that are always fighting the wackos on TV).
[ul][li]DPS rules for enforcing speed limits on freeway access roads[/li][li]DPS rules for using the “lock” feature on a radar gun[/li][li]DPS rules for using a rear facing antenna at night in heavy traffic[/li][li]Reference to safety studies for that particular stretch of road.[/ul][/li]
What I got in return yesterday was two photocopied pages from the DPS rulebook that are completely irrelevant to my case. (“25.06.2 RADAR is a legal method of measuring speed” ; “25.06.2.d When opearting a RADR unit from a vehicle, the vehicle must be legally parked”).
Granted, my citation came from the local police and not from DPS, but I have a right to this information. I am getting the distinct impression that the DPS is trying to blow me off. Perhaps they don’t want the public to get its hands on the rulebook?
Whatever.
And in a related story, I have been photographing the infamous stretch of road and recreating the incident. I measured the distance early one morning this week, and it’s only about 400 feet from where the cop was sitting and where I first came into view. Traveling 51mph, I figure he had at most 6 seconds until I had passed him. Any of you nice cops out there (Raza?) think this is enough time to properly observe, track, and measure my car from within a group of vehicles against the backdrop of a busy freeway?
You have the right to any information relevant to your case.
If an agency is being balky and refusing to release relevant materials, the clerk of the court should be able to help you with the issuance of a subpoena. A subpoena is simply a writ requiring a person to present himself (subpoena ad testificandum or documents in his control (subpoena duces tecum).
- Rick