FL - Court Ruling Means Speeding Tickets Are Routinely Tosse
WINTER PARK, Fla. -- John Kolb, who lives in Winter Park. has been known to get the occasional traffic ticket. According to the Orange County Clerk of Courts, he's had eight tickets in the last seven years.
"My attorney, Matt, lives next door and he said if I got a speeding ticket come to him and he'd get it taken care of… I fight every speeding ticket that I get," said Kolb.
Attorney Matt Liebert did more than take care of Kolb's ticket. He found a loophole that has forced judges to throw out dozens of tickets belonging to people all over Orange County.
A new appeals court ruling essentially says the document that proves a radar gun works properly is hearsay or unverified information. The only way it can be accepted in court is if the officer witnessed the gun being calibrated and was there when the document was issued.
Before the ruling most agencies did not require their officers to witness the calibration. Officers traditionally either dropped off their radar gun for servicing, or shipped them back to the manufacturer.
"They're going to say this is just a technicality but its not, it's the law," said Liebert.
Leibert says he's had great success with what's called the "Kolb ruling" but officers feel it has come at their expense. Orlando police tried work around the ruling by bringing the calibration company to police headquarters.
It's been more difficult for state troopers, some of whom who stormed out of a judge's courtroom in frustration when she tossed out a ticket.
Court records show Liebert represented Kolb three times for speeding since 2005. Police say one of those times he was clocked at 48 miles an hour in a thirty mile an hour zone. Liebert also represented Kolb for driving the wrong way on a one way street in his 2005 Porsche.
"I gave Matt his fee and he took care of it," said Kolb.
Kolb approves of what his attorney has been able to do even though officers say controlling speeders means saving lives.
Liebert does expect other jurisdictions to have to recognize the law before law enforcement finds a legal way to maneuver around it.
http://www.wftv.com/news/15300016/detail.html
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