Last edited by StlouisX50; 08-01-2010 at 02:07 PM.
Laser Interceptor Dual, Laser Interceptor Quad, Valentine 1 & The Escort 8500 X50 - Blue, Uniden BC296D, GRE500, Lasershield, 2011 Kia Soul +, Yamaha FZ6, 2005 Black Dodge Neon SRT-4,
i am surprised that Home - Fighting Red Light Camera Tickets does not have this case on their website.
WIN! Totally sticky-worthy!
Does this mean that you can use this case in any state to get out of a red light camera ticket?
I'm sure Lucky will chime in, but we talk about this to a fair degree in Criminology/Criminal Justice as well:
Well, you CAN use it, but other courts do not have to follow it in other states... so it isn't a free pass now.
Generally, the court system sets precedents which all courts under (them) must basically adhere to... That is how come virtually every USSCourt decision must be followed by every court in America... Since Case-Law is ever-changing and sometimes extenuating circumstances that differ from those in the original case the USSC saw... they may alter their decision based upon those circumstances (this often happens with the rush of new technology available).
Anyways... basically: You can cite this as case-law, but it does not mean that ALL other courts MUST follow it unless it is a court directly-under the court that decided it... so it would become 'precedent but not policy'.
So it won't hurt your case to show the judge other places (courts) have given this a look and decided with the defendant... but it isn't a guaranteed win either.
Now if the USSCourt said this... it would be a real game changer.
The reason why higher courts normally are followed by lower courts is that the higher-up you go, generally the more elite and qualified the individuals get (supposedly!), AND a uniform consensus is much easier to get in one court that controls a vast-area.
Thus judges in po-dunk little cities won't get you out of X,Y,Z simply because you cite some mediocre city-case in a Federal hearing.
Laser Interceptor Dual, Laser Interceptor Quad, Valentine 1 & The Escort 8500 X50 - Blue, Uniden BC296D, GRE500, Lasershield, 2011 Kia Soul +, Yamaha FZ6, 2005 Black Dodge Neon SRT-4,
Interesting, duly noted.
This is a perfect example of why local courts usually do not argue with someone when they fight a case like this, usually someone who walks into court with a lawyer on a ticket like this they let it go. Santa Ana, were idiots, to allow this to go this far, they really must have thought the court was going to rule in their favor, this was the last thing CA cities wanted to happen to have precedent set like this. This law basically shuts down every RLC in CA, since no towns is going to assign an officer to every camera 27/7 to watch and obverse the violation in real time.
Lawyer have used this defense for years in CA and you know if a lawyer walked in and told the judge it was hearsay they tossed it immediately to ensure the above did not happen.
BTW, this is only valid for criminal type tickets, for those states which tickets are civil and who town wrote the law as civil infraction, hearsay and rules of evidence are different so this case is worthless in those cases.
Last edited by Maestro; 08-02-2010 at 12:19 PM.
Freedom and Democracy reject the viral infestation of Capitalism
Fortunately, these Judges are not[presently] corporately owned
This is an Orange County Superior Appeals court case, it's only valid in California. While the concept may be similar in another State that has similar Rules of Evidence, everything in the court applies to California Statutes, not other State statutes. Though the defense would be virtually the same, you'd have to look at YOUR STATE'S STATUTES and make a case.
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