Okay well I'm not sure where to post this, sorry if it's in the wrong place. Basically this is what's up. Ever since I got my beautiful 69' mustang I have been the biggest target for cops. I've gotten three tickets since if had this car, none of which for speeding, and if I went into detail i'm sure you'd all agree that they are BULL SHIT tickets. Anyway, I learned about contesting tickets by a written declaration (basically you write a letter to the court stating your story instead of appearing in person), and i'm just wondering if you guys have any advice as to how I should address the letter and some advice on what to say. The first ticket im contesting, I was coming home from work and ended up in a DUI checkpoint line. This asshole cops asks me if I had been drinking and I kindly tell him no, that i was just heading home from work. He tells me to pull into the parking lot where they were busting people and another cop comes up to me. He radio calls the first officer as to why I was pulled over and the original officer tells him that I had "excessively loud music". The cop who wrote me the ticket even apologized to me for writing it, and said he had to do what the other cops told him. So here I am with a $220 fine for "loud music" when I was never informed by the original cop that I was breaking any laws or disrupting any peace. This is what I have so far, any advice would be great. Please keep it serious, as my deadline is coming up... To Whom it may concern: On the night of the July 2, 2010 around 9:30pm I was traveling home from work, heading north on BLANK Blvd. I drove up to a DUI checkpoint and an officer approached me. He asked to see my Drivers license and asked if I had been drinking that night. I handed him my Drivers license and told the officer that I hadn't been drinking at all, and that I was on my way home from work. He then told me to turn into the parking lot, and that an officer was going to talk to me. I did as he said, and after being parked for a few minutes an officer approached me. He asked me why I had parked and I told him that the officer informed me to do so. He asked if I was drinking and I told him I hadn't. Confused as to why I was pulled over, he called the other officer on the radio. The other officer said to write me a ticket for loud music. The original officer never informed me that I was playing loud music, or that it was disruptive or that I was violating any laws. The law states that if loud music from a car can be heard from 50ft away it was “excessively loud†music and unlawful. Even if my music was too loud, the officer had no way of measuring how far away my car was from him to determine if it were 50ft or not, and the officer never even informed me that I was being “disruptive†or “disturbing the peaceâ€.
Yeah but the advantage to me is that Cops get paid overtime for going to court. Once I send in my statement the officer as a certain amount of days to write his statement and send it without being paid extra. If he doesn't respond, the case is thrown out.
yeah we had a bunch of cops fired because they would never show up for court. did you have to turn your radio down to talk to the cop or did he ask you to turn it down when he spoke to you? if not I would be sure to put that in the letter to.
I'm not sure what it's called in your state, but in NY, it's a supporting deposition. The officer has to write it if you request it. Usually one of two things happen: (1) He takes the time to write it and it's more evidence against you or there's a loophole in it and you get off, or (2) He's bogged down with work, doesn't feel like writing it, <insert more reasons here> and it never gets written and the court throws out the ticket. Probably go either way.
This here is exactly why I keep my music at a decent level and turn it down when I see cops near by...
The laws very by state, for me the officer HAS to come to court. My judge was cool and she could tell my cop was a douche