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mailemae

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:26 am

not very stoked Joined: 03 Sep 2009 Posts: 303 Location: winterfell

legal advice needed:

after the first midnite mystery ride a few months back, andrew_squirrel and I got stopped by Officer McDouchealot at almost 2 AM in downtown seattle, near the convention center. you guessed it - he ticketed us for running red lights.

my normal strategy with cops is to zip my lip and look sweet and innocent. it usually works. when McDouchey handed andrew his citation - for $160 (right, andrew?) I tried to hide how upset I was and simply said, "I think we deserve a warning." I pointed out that we both had our helmets on, front and rear blinking lights a-blinking, and we were sober as the day is long.

not to mention that is was two o'clock in the effing morning and there were no cars in sight and absolutely no risk of being hit by one.

Officer vanDouchelburg gave us this long, douchey lecture about how if this ticket keeps us from getting killed, then he can sleep at night, or something like that - then handed me my own personalized $160 ticket.

andrew paid his. I requested an opportunity to contest it.

my plan was to go to court and simply argue that we deserved a warning, and hope that the judge agrees and will at least bring the ticket down a bit in price. I am a lowly nonprofit employee and $160 really smarts.

of course, they set my court date for the friday before memorial day weekend. I am supposed to be deep on some trail on the rogue river by then. so my question for you, fair readers, is this:

should I try to reschedule my court hearing and argue my case before the judge? my dad says I would be wasting my breath, since I did, in fact, run the light (the cop said he saw us run two). but if I have a chance of reducing the ticket at all, it would be worth it to me to appear in court.

or should I just pay the ticket and put this whole distasteful affair behind me?

advice appreciated!

langston

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:41 am

Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 5547 Location: Columbia City

I'm hoping you checked the middle box. The magistrates are usually very good for throwing out red-light tickets for bicyclists, I'm 3/3 on this. Reschedule!!!

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Andrew_Squirrel

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:58 am

Joined: 01 Mar 2010 Posts: 2098 Location: Greenwood

Running red lights uphill at approx 2mph no less, even using the courtesy pedal-pause & glance in both directions.....which of course, revealed....you guessed it, no traffic whatsoever.

My favorite part is when we didn't realize he was yelling at us to "wah wah wah" (no loudspeaker, just whispering out the passenger window)...then he got his panties in a twist and decided to head us off by quickly flooring his car and veering over in front of us.....classy....

henry

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 12:11 pm

somewhat piggish Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 5415 Location: on porch with shotgun

Sounds like you should have kept an eye open for cops.

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haulincolin

Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 10:53 pm

Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 271 Location: at work

Quote:

I'm hoping you checked the middle box. The magistrates are usually very good for throwing out red-light tickets for bicyclists, I'm 3/3 on this. Reschedule!!!

Yeah, the middle option, mitigation hearing, is what you want. You don't want to contest it because you obviously did run the light, but in a mitigation hearing you can explain the circumstances and most likely get it significantly reduced if not thrown out altogether.

mailemae

Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 9:54 am

not very stoked Joined: 03 Sep 2009 Posts: 303 Location: winterfell

henry wrote:

Sounds like you should have kept an eye open for cops.

Seriously. There were no cars around... except the cop car that was apparently following us. Duh!

I am pretty sure I am going to mitigate, not contest. I just rescheduled. Fingers crossed! I welcome any advice that you might have for the hearing - it's happening in July now. Haha.

Thanks!

Jace

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 1:50 am

Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 601 Location: Seattle

Yeah this law needs to be changed! Can't we have a corrupt mayor tell the cops that they have bigger fish to fry than bicycles? Idaho! Chicago!

forget, Officer McDouche's lecture to messengers when you have some hot shit in the bag!

joby

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 9:43 am

goes to eleven Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 3899 Location: The Cloud

Jace wrote:

mcrawfor

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:30 am

Joined: 09 May 2006 Posts: 1039 Location: Ballard

Jace wrote:

when you have some hot shit in the bag!

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-miles

SeditiousCanary

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 11:00 am

sorry, can't make it! Joined: 26 Jan 2006 Posts: 2315 Location: Fremont Troll

mailemae wrote:

should I try to reschedule my court hearing and argue my case before the judge? my dad says I would be wasting my breath, since I did, in fact, run the light (the cop said he saw us run two). but if I have a chance of reducing the ticket at all, it would be worth it to me to appear in court.

Request a reschedule. The cop will not show, and you will see a magistrate, not a judge. Explain your situation, and you will likely get a reduction, or the whole thing thrown out (but not likely).

I just did this for three tickets I got while driving.

lantius

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 11:06 am

1337 Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 6705 Location: right over

SeditiousCanary wrote:

I just did this for three tickets I got while driving.

ali

Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 5:40 pm

Joined: 18 Sep 2008 Posts: 82 Location: san francisco/berkeley ca

mailemae wrote:

Officer vanDouchelburg gave us this long, douchey lecture about how if this ticket keeps us from getting killed, then he can sleep at night, or something like that - then handed me my own personalized $160 ticket.

I think the retort to the lecture is: "more likely, i'll die any way, and there'll be $160 less for my funeral. do you really want that on your conscience, officer?"

Jace

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:05 pm

Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 601 Location: Seattle

Mayor Daley wrote:

"The bike messengers are a breed unto themselves," Daley said, smiling as he spoke. "I got to meet a lot of them so I know a lot of them. They've got a job to do, and like anything else, they are respecting the laws on the road and all that, and the rules."

After his defense of messengers, the mayor added: "You have to be careful if you are reckless."

PJ Diddy

Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 7:42 pm

Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 567 Location: magnolia

Wow... I can't believe he gave you a ticket. I would stick with the original date since it is before a holiday most likely the officer will have something better to do (we hope). If the officer doesn't show I believe you can get the ticket dismissed based on that. Also if it wasn't filed within 2 days or something. Request the report before the court date. Bring a witness. I got a ticket dismissed once because the officer in his report said I was going 25 in a 35. Breaking rcw yada yada. I was going 35 in a 25... So yeah Good luck. there are tons of resources out there. google is your friend.

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