Fighting an out of state Colorado speeding ticket.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've fought lots of tickets in California and won every one of them. All of them the cop issued it erroneously. CA allows you to fight via the mail - Trial by Declaration. This allows people to effectively fight tickets even if they are out of state - there is no requirement to physically report to the actual court in the district in which the ticket was issued to fight it, which is very fair IMO.

I got pulled over in CO supposedly doing 40 in a 35. I wasn't. Since I'm now back in CA, I effectively have no way to fight the ticket since I think CO does not allow contesting the ticket through the mail. I have to report to the court in the location where I got the ticket to plead my case. This basically allows CO to pull over any out of state vehicle with impunity and fine them since no one is going to be able to report to the court in CO to contest the ticket if they live far away.

Anyone have any advice for fighting in such a scenario? The fine is $150. I'm not paying it. Wasn't doing the crime and I want to see how he speed checked me, ask for maintenance records, etc.

 

[IronWing]

40 in a 35? Cop was a jerk.

 

[tynopik]

The fine is $150. I'm not paying it. Wasn't doing the crime and I want to see how he speed checked me, ask for maintenance records, etc.

that could end up being a costly mistake

if you want to fight it, you can hire a local lawyer to represent you

 

[BlitzPuppet]

40 in a 35? Cop was a jerk.

Agreed, 5 over is EXPECTED down here, Cops will even do it. But if you do 7+ you're pushing it.

 

[IronWing]

Also, just pay it and go on with life.

 

[BoomerD]

That's Colorado cops for ya.

My wife got stopped for 58 in a 55 back in the early 80's. She didn't have the CASH with her to pre-pay the fine of $100+ with the highway patrol officer who stopped her...so she took my wife to jail to wait for court. I was at work in the mountains, and since this was way before cell phones, I didn't find out until later...When she got to court, the judge was more reasonable...let her go on her own recognizance...and actually gave her 30 days to pay the fine...$45.00

Just another reason why I will drive around Colorado rather than drive one mile inside their borders.

 

[highland145]

Don't pay and you could very well lose your CA DL. Multi state cooperation.

 

[MontyAC]

What a bummer. Guess that's one state I won't be driving.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm not paying it because I want to contest the ticket and win. I'm not just going to ignore it.

It's bullshit that they have people go to the physical location in Frisco, CO in order to contest it. Great way to steal money from people who aren't from the area. Hell, even people from DENVER won't be able to easily contest it since Denver is an hour away.

BTW I was looking for a local coffee shop / restaurant in the area so I was driving slowly. I went in after the cop let me go and witnessed him pull over people left and right for the next hour I was sitting there in the restaurant.

 

[BoomerD]

It's not bullshit...you got the ticket in Colorado...you have to appear in that court. MAYBE you can get a lawyer to represent you...but do you really trust a local lawyer to represent your best interests?

BTW, in California, "Trial by Declaration" is only an option IF the judge agrees to it. It's not a guaranteed right.

 

[Nintendesert]

What exactly are you going to contest? That you weren't breaking the law enough to warrant a ticket?

 

[Corporate Thug]

It's not bullshit...you got the ticket in Colorado...you have to appear in that court. MAYBE you can get a lawyer to represent you...but do you really trust a local lawyer to represent your best interests?

BTW, in California, "Trial by Declaration" is only an option IF the judge agrees to it. It's not a guaranteed right.

Where did you get this information? Vehicle Code 40902 makes TBD a mandatory option:

40902. (a) (1) The court , pursuant to this section, shall, by rule, provide that the defendant may elect to have a trial by written declaration upon any alleged infraction, as charged by the citing officer, involving a violation of this code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code, other than an infraction cited pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 23152) of Chapter 12 of Division 11.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

It's not bullshit...you got the ticket in Colorado...you have to appear in that court. MAYBE you can get a lawyer to represent you...but do you really trust a local lawyer to represent your best interests?

BTW, in California, "Trial by Declaration" is only an option IF the judge agrees to it. It's not a guaranteed right.

I've done trial by declaration a lot. It is the defacto standard for contesting tickets in CA. Definitely helps keep the innocent from paying tickets issued willy nilly.

And it's still bullshit. The advantages are 110% in the court of the town and they know it. Towns can rake in loads of money by pulling over out of the area skiers/snowboarders from Denver in this way.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I've fought lots of tickets in California and won every one of them. All of them the cop issued it erroneously. CA allows you to fight via the mail - Trial by Declaration. This allows people to effectively fight tickets even if they are out of state - there is no requirement to physically report to the actual court in the district in which the ticket was issued to fight it, which is very fair IMO.

I got pulled over in CO supposedly doing 40 in a 35. I wasn't. Since I'm now back in CA, I effectively have no way to fight the ticket since I think CO does not allow contesting the ticket through the mail. I have to report to the court in the location where I got the ticket to plead my case. This basically allows CO to pull over any out of state vehicle with impunity and fine them since no one is going to be able to report to the court in CO to contest the ticket if they live far away.

Anyone have any advice for fighting in such a scenario? The fine is $150. I'm not paying it. Wasn't doing the crime and I want to see how he speed checked me, ask for maintenance records, etc.

...and I'm going to call BS on this. TBD almost never works, let alone a 100% success rate.

Good luck with the ticket.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

What exactly are you going to contest? That you weren't breaking the law enough to warrant a ticket?

Nope. I'm saying that I wasn't breaking it at all. I was going slowly trying to find a restaurant. I may even have been going *under* the limit. I want to see how he clocked me (if he even did), maintenance records, and all the paperwork and records he has of my specific incident during his full day of manning the speed trap.

 

[highland145]

Why have you had lots of tickets anyway? I haven't been pulled since 1998.

 

[AMDZen]

Radar detector

Don't leave home without it

 

[Schfifty Five]

That's Colorado cops for ya.

My wife got stopped for 58 in a 55 back in the early 80's. She didn't have the CASH with her to pre-pay the fine of $100+ with the highway patrol officer who stopped her...so she took my wife to jail to wait for court. I was at work in the mountains, and since this was way before cell phones, I didn't find out until later...When she got to court, the judge was more reasonable...let her go on her own recognizance...and actually gave her 30 days to pay the fine...$45.00

Just another reason why I will drive around Colorado rather than drive one mile inside their borders.

Dang really? I've never even heard of pre paying a ticket on the spot. That is ridiculous.

 

[BoomerD]

Where did you get this information? Vehicle Code 40902 makes TBD a mandatory option:

40902. (a) (1) The court , pursuant to this section, shall, by rule, provide that the defendant may elect to have a trial by written declaration upon any alleged infraction, as charged by the citing officer, involving a violation of this code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code, other than an infraction cited pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 23152) of Chapter 12 of Division 11.

Ah...OK. I was always under the impression that it was an option...not required. I wonder if that's a "recent" change in the law.

 

[Nintendesert]

Nope. I'm saying that I wasn't breaking it at all. I was going slowly trying to find a restaurant. I may even have been going *under* the limit. I want to see how he clocked me (if he even did), maintenance records, and all the paperwork and records he has of my specific incident during his full day of manning the speed trap.

I see, well good luck with that. Fight the power! :thumbsup:

 

[AMDZen]

Dang really? I've never even heard of pre paying a ticket on the spot. That is ridiculous.

That isn't an option anymore, that was in the 80's

 

[BoomerD]

Dang really? I've never even heard of pre paying a ticket on the spot. That is ridiculous.

I don't know if it's still common, but it USED to be fairly common, especially for folks with out-of-state plates and drivers licenses.
I DO NOT know if Colorado still does this or not...but since FBB escaped, I presume they don't.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

...and I'm going to call BS on this. TBD almost never works, let alone a 100% success rate.

Good luck with the ticket.

It always works:

1. U-Turn: I was doing a U-turn in an area that had no "no U-turn signs." Cop pulled me over for doing an illegal U. I provided photos and Google Maps evidence and I won it easily.

2. Cell Phone: I was holding my cell phone and placing it somewhere inside my car. Cop pulled me over for cell phone use while driving. Sent the court my call records showing no calls had been made anywhere near the time of the incident. Won it easily.

3. Speeding ticket. It was raining. Radar guns have a chance of not reading accurately in the rain. I googled the weather report for that day, showed that it was raining, and won it.

 

[highland145]

That isn't an option anymore, that was in the 80's

Yep, there was a bit of corruption going on, tickets disappearing...One local HP got busted because he told the driver he'd waive the ticket if the driver would give the HP a pistol the HP found in his car.

 

[AMDZen]

That's Colorado cops for ya.

My wife got stopped for 58 in a 55 back in the early 80's. She didn't have the CASH with her to pre-pay the fine of $100+ with the highway patrol officer who stopped her...so she took my wife to jail to wait for court. I was at work in the mountains, and since this was way before cell phones, I didn't find out until later...When she got to court, the judge was more reasonable...let her go on her own recognizance...and actually gave her 30 days to pay the fine...$45.00

Just another reason why I will drive around Colorado rather than drive one mile inside their borders.

Whatever. You can't judge Colorado on some asshole cop from 30-40 years ago. Every state does this and Colorado certainly isn't worse than others. Its a small town thing in every state of this entire nation.

You're wife was probably being a bitch. I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket for 3 miles over the speed limit, much less getting hauled off to jail for it. You don't ever go to jail for speeding unless its WAYYYY over the speed limit. She must have been hauled off for something else.