To make a long story short, I was a witness in a trial for a traffic accident where a driver ran a red light. Open and shut case, but the driver apparently requested a trial. I gave my testimony, and the judge asked if I could identify the driver. I didn’t approach the cars after the accident, because police were on the scene quickly, and I never saw her. The judge said that since the officer didn’t show up to identify the driver he had to find her not guilty.
Before my case was called there were several other cases that followed the same pattern:
Judge: “John Doe”
Defendant: “Present, Your Honor.”
Judge: “Officer Smith?”
Judge: “Officer Smith is not here. Not guilty. You are free to go.”
Why do they bother to write tickets when a failure to appear in court almost guarantees a “not guilty” verdict?
Depends on the jurisdiction. In my state most traffic violations are considered civil, not criminal offenses. Police are not required to show up for civil offenses. If someone does want the officer to appear, a subpoena must be presented to the officer.
I agree with both of those, but after reading Really Not All That Bright’s original telling of the story (which he linked to), it sounds like RNATB was subpoenaed to be in court and missed part of his/her workday in order to appear. So why are police officers not also subpoenaed to appear in court, even if it makes them miss work and they don’t get paid for it like us average folks?
I am surprised to learn that officers appearing in court as a witness for a ticket they have issued are not on the clock. That is law enforcement just as much as sitting in a car holding a radar gun.
An officer that has to appear for every contested ticket would probably spend several hours every week in court. If they don’t get paid, and it’s their discretion whether they appear, then I can understand why they wouldn’t.
But then the question shifts away from the individual officers to our law enforcement system. If the system won’t compensate officers to prosecute the tickets, why are they sending them out there to write them?
During my very brief experience as a state prosecutor, each officer had a traffic day and a misdemeanor day. (For example, Officer Jones might have the third Tuesday as a traffic day and the second Wednesday as his misdemeanor day). Cases were always set for the appropriate officer’s appropriate day (both the prosecutor and the judge had a book with the dates listed). Specialty departments (fish and wildlife police, for example, and the state police) would really screw that up, but you could usually figure something out. Amusingly, court was very quiet on months with five weeks, because it was no one’s court day.
I am quite certain that they were paid to be there (although I never asked) and they almost always showed up. But in reality, most defendants didn’t want to come back (and they were obviously guilty), so they pleaded guilty and paid their fine or they paid by mail without coming to court. The number of traffic tickets that ended up in a trial was very small, so even if all of those got dismissed, it would still be a good revenue stream for the county (and, you know, traffic safety, but mostly the revenue stream).
It’s not. Police officers are on the clock when they show up in court. And as Falchion noted, they typically bracket specific days/times for each officer and bundle all their citations into those time periods. And a dept/court that isn’t organized this way is very poorly managed IMHO.
Years ago I got a ticket for a brake light being burned out. The officer told me his department made him issue the ticket, but if I corrected the problem I’d be found “not guilty”. I replaced the bulb and entered a not guilty plea.
The magistrate was in a foul mood and found me guilty. The cop approached me after and apologized. He said if I appealed he would purposely not show up. Meh, I paid it.
I’m sure it varies by jurisdiction, but around here they usually show up (and often get overtime). I assume that from time to time they’re working on something more serious and just decide to skip traffic court so they can continue working up the scene of a murder or whatnot. (probably not a good example, but you get the idea).
I got pulled over once in CA for a DUI (it was 2 am on New Year’s Day and I was really tired when I was stopped). The office performed a FST and said I was borderline, and instead wrote me up for reckless driving, which I politely tried to talk him out of. I showed up in court a few months later to fight it and the officer didn’t, so it was dismissed. I lost a half day’s work, but at least my record is clean. I don’t think the officer really cares at that point, and most people would probably just pay the fine and get on with their lives.
Indeed - glanced down while writing the reply, not remembering that posts are shown Newest First on the reply/quote page - the opposite order of the regular thread.
I also doubt that officers are not compensated for court appearances, but assuming for the sake of argument that it’s true, I can imagine that it’s worth writing the tickets but now showing up to prosecute them.
Most people won’t contest tickets, so the revenue generation purpose of writing a ticket is still fulfilled.
Most people who do contest the tickets will still change their behavior as a result of getting the ticket, so the public safety purpose of writing a ticket is still fulfilled.
I (not that long ago) got a ticket and successfully contested it. But it still cost me something (time sitting on the side of the road getting the ticket, time disputing it), and I’m much more careful not to commit the alleged infraction now.
The marginal increase in revenue and public safety is probably better served by having the officers out on the street writing more tickets than it is having them go to court, as long as most people don’t realize that contesting a ticket is a get-out-of-ticket free card. At that point, they probably start showing up at least some of the time.
In Florida they give you a warning. As long as you show up at a police station to show the problem has been fixed you won’t get a ticket.
A police officer has shown up for every ticket I’ve ever gone to court for.
All this is certainly true.
Plus many police departments have limited resources; officer time is one of the most limited. So they may decide that having the officer on the street protecting the public is more important than sitting in a courtroom waiting to be called.
Also, friends who are police officers have told me that scummy lawyers* make a practice of rescheduling court cases, often on short notice, until the officer gets tired of this and doesn’t show up – then they quickly ask the Judge to dismiss the case because the officer isn’t present. And rescheduling is difficult for an officer, especially as many now work in pairs with another officer, and the whole precinct needs a certain number of cars on the street.
Where i live you get what is colloquially called a “fixit ticket”. It explicitly gives you X days to fix the problem. Not a big deal unless (as happened to me once) you get stopped 90 miles from home in a city you only visit once a month or so.
There’s also a very real possibility that the officer was scheduled in two different courts on the same day and is over in the other courtroom testifying.
I most certainly do get paid for traffic court, even if it’s overtime.
The date on the citation is the violators initial appearance (when they plead guilty or not). That date I do not go to because there is no need. I wouldn’t be testifying.
But if the defendant pleads not guilty a trial date is set. I will receive a subpoena with the date on it and my agencies court officer (the officer who coordinates court cases between the department and the DA/Clerk of courts/Judges) will put it on my master schedule. If the time and date conflict with something else (another court case, investigation, vacation time, etc) the court officer tries to get the date changed pronto.
Once any conflicts are hashed out I get paid for and am required to go to any court date I am subpoenaed for and better have a pretty goddamn good reason if I don’t show. There have been times when dates were changed and I wasn’t notified which is a good excuse not to go. I also have been in the middle of a serious situation that I couldn’t leave when my court time crept up. In those circumstances though the court officer is notified and he advises the prosecutor and judge. Sometimes there is a postponement.
Other than that if I were to just blow off a court hearing I was suppose to attend I’d get my ass handed to me something fierce! :eek: