🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <Oct.8.15.46.48.1992.16463@tastesgreat.rutgers.edu> boubez@tastesgreat.rutgers.edu (Toufic Boubez) writes:

> Hi. I've been issued a speeding ticket on the NJ Turnpike. The ticket says
> that I was "paced" at 73mph, which is preposterous, becuase I saw the
> unmarked car at the side of the road, saw it pull out into traffic, and
> there was _NO_ way I was going that fast, since I monitored my speed all
> the while he was behind me in traffic. Whether he clocked me before with a
> radar gun or not is not the issue. The ticket says "paced at 73mph", and
> it's complete baloney (I wasn't going 55, for sure, but with the flow of
> traffic, maybe around 60-65, like everybody else). Anyway, I'm going to go
> to court. The only thing I have going is that I had my wife in the car with
> me.  We both noticed the police car on the side of the road as it was
> pulling out. Now to my question(s): Has anybody been in traffic court to
> fight a ticket? What are my chances, What's a good tactic, Is there any
> required reading before I go plead my case? Any info would be greatly
> appreciated. Thanks.

You might as well forget it - with the cop pulling out, he probably
had to go 73 to catch up to you. This exact same thing happened to me
in South Jersey a few years back - I was in fact moving at between 50
and 55 - the cop claimed I was going 68. I went to court - had to
drive 1.5 hours each way, 3 times - the first 2 times, the cop wasn't
there. The 3rd time, he was. He lied on the witness stand. Every
question I asked him was objected to by the prosecutor, and sustained
by the judge. In the end, the judge said - Mr. Rinehart, I'm not
saying you lied. I just don't believe you told the truth. Guilty.

There's not much you can ask when it comes to a pace. It's basically
your word against the cop. You might try to introduce the idea that
it's feasible that the officer had to go 73 to catch up to you,
because he was at a dead stop or coasting as you passed him. In my
case, the cop stated that he paced me for 1.5 miles. The fact was he
had someone else pulled over as I passed him, and he pulled me over
exactly .6 of a mile down the road. He lied about that on the witness
stand. In my case, I believe I know why I got the ticket. It
was Christmas night, 1987, and he pulled me over for 2 reasons - one,
I was driving an IROC-Z28 Camaro; two, to check me for drunk driving.
Speeding never came up in our conversation until 20 minutes after he
pulled me. By that time, he was able to determine for himself, what I
had told him initially - I didn't have anything to drink that
day/night, BECAUSE I knew I had to drive and there would be lots of
cops on the road looking for exactly that. 

Speeding and municipal courts in NJ are NOT about reality and truth.
They are about LYING COPS and MONEY. It's the single biggest legal
scam in this country.


Good luck. Let us know how it comes out.

Mark