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      01-19-2010, 06:47 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kobaiyashi View Post
Looks like I owe you all a round. Used ticket assassin and my own b.s. to draft up a declaration and contest the ticket. Was notified a few weeks ago that the ticket has been dismissed!

For anyone who's interested,

Citation Number: __________
Request for Trial By Written Declaration

DECLARATION OF FACTS
I respectfully submit this written declaration to the Court. I plead
Not Guilty to the charge of violating C.V.C. §22349(a).

At 9:45 a.m. on April 23, 2009, while driving northbound on Newport Coast Drive, I was stopped by Newport Beach Police Officer _________ (Badge #____) and was charged with violating California Vehicle Code §22349(a) – “Exceeding Max Speed Limit of 65 mph.” The Officer alleged that I was driving 82 mph in a 60 mph zone based on “lidar” evidence. I contend that I was driving well below this speed at the time of the stop and that my speed was safe for the prevailing conditions. As noted on the citation, the weather was “clear,” traffic was not heavy, and the road conditions were “dry.”

I contest the violation on the following grounds:

(1) The Officer failed to demonstrate that the laser he was using had been recently calibrated and that he had been trained to use the laser;
(2) A Handheld Laser Is Not Likely To Have Accurately Detected My Vehicle’s Speed;
(3) I Was Travelling At a Speed That Was Safe And Appropriate For Given Conditions.

The Laser Was Likely Not Recently Calibrated
A laser is a precision instrument, and the testing, calibration, and operation in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications is very important. In this case, the Officer failed to demonstrate that the laser was recently calibrated or that he had any knowledge regarding the proper testing and calibration of the instrument. Based on this failure, it is likely the laser was not recently calibrated so as to accurately detect my vehicle’s speed.

A Handheld Laser Is Not Likely To Have Accurately Detected My Vehicle’s Speed
Even assuming the laser’s proper calibration, its use in this instance is unlikely to have resulted in an accurate reading. Lidar measures a vehicle's speed by calculating the changing time it takes to catch sight of reflecting pulses of light over a certain time period. The effectives of a lidar gun is determined by factors such as surface area of the lights on the car; the amount of chrome areas on the vehicle; shape of the vehicle; and the color of the vehicle. Lasers require precise aiming. To be accurate, lasers have to be stationary and steady. Sweeping Errors occur when the laser is aimed at one part of the vehicle and, due to an officer’s movements, switches to another part of the vehicle. Sweeping Errors add to the target vehicle’s speed and cause inaccurate readings. Aiming a laser from a distance exacerbates Sweeping Error.

In the instant case, the officer was positioned at the top of a hill, several hundred feet away from my vehicle (982 feet per the ticket). The lidar gun used by the officer was not stationary, but held in his hand and thus subject to Sweeping Error. This error would likely have been exacerbated by the great distance from which the officer “shot” my car. Given the position of the laser with respect to my vehicle, and the lack of evidence that the laser was in proper working order or that the Officer had been adequately trained to use the laser, there is strong likelihood that the laser was not used properly and did not accurately detect my vehicle’s speed.

I Was Travelling At a Speed That Was Safe And Appropriate For Given Conditions.
California law states that no person shall drive a vehicle “at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of the [road] and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.” (C.V.C. §22350.) Moreover, California allows a ticketed individual to establish by “competent evidence that the speed in excess of said limits did not constitute a violation of the basic speed law at the time, place, and under the conditions then existing.” (C.V.C. §22351(b).)

As Noted by Officer __________, Newport Coast Drive – a straight, well maintained three land boulevard – was dry and not heavily traversed at the time I was stopped. Furthermore, there are no intersections or cross-walks on the stretch of Newport Coast Drive where I am alleged to have been speeding nor are there shops, residences, or other public spaces immediately adjacent to the road. Finally, the relevant section of Newport Coast Drive ascends steeply so that the speed of a vehicle is constantly (and dramatically) impeded at all times. Given these favorable weather and road conditions, it was quite safe to proceed up Newport Coast Drives at the speed I was travelling. As such, and pursuant to California Vehicle Code §22351(b), I was not in violation of the basic speed law at the time and place of my citation.


For the above-stated reasons, I respectfully request the Court dismiss my citation.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.




Date: [Insert Date] _______________________
[Insert Name]


That's awesome. Congrats!
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      01-26-2010, 07:39 PM   #24
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i paid the $25 to ticketassassin via paypal and have not heard anything back for over a month. they guy does not reply to any of my emails. I have sent him many to the various emails listed.

i still get automated emails from ticketassassin that i "should pay the nominal registration fee"
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      03-21-2010, 09:36 PM   #25
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Ticket Ass, only works IF you are able to do a Trial by declaration. I have had bad luck this year and have gotten 3 tickets (after traffic school) and my ticket says "Court appearance required" , if that is the case then you lose the right for a trial of declaration.

Wish I knew about ticket ass and the tactics to get out of a ticket before my 1st ones
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      03-22-2010, 04:47 PM   #26
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Fight the ticket, usually the cop will not show up in court. I just went to court this morning and about 10 people got let off (including me) because the cop did not show up.
The recording they played before the judge came in talked about a 12 hour traffic school that you can take that will kinda/sorta erase ur point - being that this is the 2nd ticket you've gotten in 18 months. The clerk said that ONLY IF your insurance company investigates will they find that you got a ticket "citation", not point on your record.

What I usually do for tickets is ask for trial by declarations first. The court will send you everything you need to fill out and return it back to them. Most likely, the cop that gave you the ticket will write to the court as well - and you'll be informed that you've been found guilty. Then you can request another trial to appear in person, and from experience the cop rarely ever shows. Unless you really pissed him off and he/she remembers you vividly.
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      08-15-2010, 11:51 PM   #27
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Trial By Written Declaration - LIDAR

Hi Kobaiyashi - I came across this forum and received a similar speeding ticket in So. Orange County. I was wondering, when you sent in your Trial by Written Declaration (which was written by TicketAssasin) did you actually request those things? In other words, the statement indicates that "the Officer failed to demonstrate that the laser was recently calibrated or that he had any knowledge regarding the proper testing and calibration of the instrument. Based on this failure, it is likely the laser was not recently calibrated so as to accurately detect my vehicle’s speed."

Did you actually request this from the Officer? I am curious b/c I am trying to write up a Trial by Written Declaration. Thanks Kobaiyashi!!!
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      08-16-2010, 01:25 AM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tokidoki717 View Post
Hi Kobaiyashi - I came across this forum and received a similar speeding ticket in So. Orange County. I was wondering, when you sent in your Trial by Written Declaration (which was written by TicketAssasin) did you actually request those things? In other words, the statement indicates that "the Officer failed to demonstrate that the laser was recently calibrated or that he had any knowledge regarding the proper testing and calibration of the instrument. Based on this failure, it is likely the laser was not recently calibrated so as to accurately detect my vehicle’s speed."

Did you actually request this from the Officer? I am curious b/c I am trying to write up a Trial by Written Declaration. Thanks Kobaiyashi!!!
My assumption is that the officer did not respond at all, which is how most of these written by declarations' cases are dismissed. If at the time of the citation the officer failed to show you the calibration data, he would not have given out the ticket at all. If you did not mention to see the data at the time of the citation, you would have to file Motion of Discovery after the citation.
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      08-17-2010, 04:16 PM   #29
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Hi Outie - I was wondering if Kobaiyashi actually requested to see if the laser was calibrated at the time of the citation or did he file Motion for Discovery after? It just sounded as if he may have took the template from TicketAssassin and sent it off to the courts w/o requesting a Motion for Discovery. I am curious if he actually did request all that or he just included all this info but without actually seeing the evidence prior to submitting his Trial by Written Declaration.

How many weeks in advance should I file a Motion for Discovery? If they do not respond to the informal discovery request, does that mean I can mention in my TBWD that there is lack of evidence provided, etc? Even if the cop respond to the TBWD, would I be found guilty?
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      08-17-2010, 05:54 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsmamg View Post
i paid the $25 to ticketassassin via paypal and have not heard anything back for over a month. they guy does not reply to any of my emails. I have sent him many to the various emails listed.

i still get automated emails from ticketassassin that i "should pay the nominal registration fee"
Same here...sent the guy 25 bucks and never received confirmation that he received it or access to his "members only" database. I was able to utilize what he had on his website to win my trial by written declaration.

Oh yea, he still sends me emails asking me to pay the $25 membership fee...
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      08-17-2010, 09:45 PM   #31
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I have been doing the trial by written declaration for years, I have won red light violations, Speeding, unsafe lane change, sound violations, I have lost 2 or 3, but its your best bet at winning, what you want to do is around the last day get an extention, and then drag that out and then go to the clerk of the court, and tell her you need to do the trial by written declaration. Then take what "Kobaiyashi" said and paste it in, and send it in a week before the due date, and wait.
Chances are you will win, I live in costa mesa and I have goten several tickets in costa mesa and newport. I just got $522 back from some cop that gave me a red light ticket when I was allready in the intersection making a turn waiting for people to get out of the street.
no points and I got all my money back.
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      08-18-2010, 12:32 AM   #32
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JUSTINLUV949: Are you serious? DAMN lucky! I got two tickets within a span of two months in the Lake Forest/Irvine area - off Bake Pkwy. First ticket was also a red light, did a rolling stop and took traffic schoo for it. Got my 2nd ticket for going 60-63 in a 50 mph zone. He clocked me at 63 mph apparently. Absolutely ridiculous...

I did request for an extension online and extended a month and a half.

Even though I use a similar template as Kobaiyashi, do you think it's really necessary for me to file for Motion for Discovery also? I was getting confused with that process. I was hoping I can just use similar template and send it my TBWD and call it a day.

I'm assuming it's either the cops responds - I lose, or if he doesn't respond, I win...
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      08-19-2010, 02:27 AM   #33
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Tokidoki717, I'm not really sure about the motion of discovery, but I think ticketassassin would know better then I would. I would just follow what "Kobaiyashi" said, and run with it, my responses have always been a lot shorter and not so detailed, and I just make up my defenses as I go,
It also depends where you get the ticket, and if the cop was a motor cycle cop or in a car, if it was a city cop or a sheriff. Chp has gotten me every time, that’s their job, CHP, traffic is there thing. City cops are the easiest, I get out of those tickets most of the time, but where you live Irvine, and lake forest they are sheriffs, so I think you have a good chance of beating it. Just send it in, and hope for the best.
Good luck.
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      08-19-2010, 02:23 PM   #34
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Thanks JUSTINLUV949. Yeah I looked at my ticket and it was the Sheriff of OC - motorcycle cop that issued the citation. Hopefully he doesn't respond. Did you say that I would have a better chance of not responding if it's a Sheriff? I hope so.
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      08-19-2010, 04:16 PM   #35
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Yes, they have alot of stuff to deal with in your area.
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      08-27-2010, 12:13 AM   #36
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No need to for discovery. My argument was based upon the fact that the police have the burden of proving they are using a calibrated gun. I don't remember the code section, access TicketAss for that and more explanations. I'm in the legal profession and found the site to be very, helpful. Pretty much the same basic advice an attorney would give I'm sure.

In short, don't lie in the declaration, just place the burden the government. You're hoping the don't take the trouble to respond to everything more than anything else, not that your arguments are necessarily valid.
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      08-27-2010, 12:25 AM   #37
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My guess is you had the ticket dismissed on CVC 22350. My friend got a ticket for going like 48 in a 35 last year on our way back from lunch. Perfectly clear day, good traffic flow, and not even speeding. He argued basic speed law and had his ticket dismissed.
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      08-30-2010, 08:56 PM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skim View Post
clearing no front license plate was a pain cuz i didn't want to drill holes on my bumper but i could not just "stick" on the plate for signing off purpose either.
Sorry but you "screwed the pooch" on this one if you drilled your nice bumber cover. I've got 2 no front plate tickets in the last 2 years. I think one was while parked (ugh). Anyway but some plue painters tape on your bumper and then adhere the license plate (without a frame) directly to the blue tape with foam trim mounting tape. You can bend the plate a bit to fit and adhere better to the bumper cover. If you really want to be paranoid cut the threads off of two screws and epoxy those into the screw holes in your plate. For me this has passed two in person inspections by officers. As soon as they walk inside remove plate, remove blue tape, viola.
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      09-07-2010, 12:56 PM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by azhangie View Post

What I usually do for tickets is ask for trial by declarations first. The court will send you everything you need to fill out and return it back to them. Most likely, the cop that gave you the ticket will write to the court as well - and you'll be informed that you've been found guilty. Then you can request another trial to appear in person, and from experience the cop rarely ever shows. Unless you really pissed him off and he/she remembers you vividly.
I've done this method before and failed in succession. The officer submitted his response to my trial by declaration and I asked for a trial by court praying he wouldn't show up in court (he did anyways).

I got hit with 5 idiotic hanky panky tickets in less than a yr, got out of 4. Doing nothing is a 0% success rate, trying is 50%, I'll take those odds anyways.

Last edited by bavarian06; 09-07-2010 at 01:01 PM..
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      09-07-2010, 01:01 PM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kobaiyashi View Post
No need to for discovery. My argument was based upon the fact that the police have the burden of proving they are using a calibrated gun. I don't remember the code section, access TicketAss for that and more explanations. I'm in the legal profession and found the site to be very, helpful. Pretty much the same basic advice an attorney would give I'm sure.

In short, don't lie in the declaration, just place the burden the government. You're hoping the don't take the trouble to respond to everything more than anything else, not that your arguments are necessarily valid.
I argued when was the last time the radar was calibrated and when a speed limit survey was done and the officer provided both items. Guess my officer was the top of his class or strictly by the books.
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      11-30-2012, 01:18 AM   #41
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When radar isn't involved and you're not getting into the technicalities, usually it is best to just state:

"I stand by my plea of not guilty" on the TBD form.

It eliminates the risk of self-incriminating ourselves or providing too much information and puts the burden on the citing officer to prove us guilty.
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      11-30-2012, 02:07 AM   #42
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http://www.trafficfighters.com/

I used these guys when I got a pretty epic speeding ticket about 2 years ago. Even traffic cops I know were impressed that they were able to defend me successfully and get my ticket dismissed. Cost me around $550-$600 if I remember correctly. Worth every penny though!

Just one more option to consider. They are definitely legit and good to go. The nice part was I didn't have to go to court or anything. Only downside was that filling out his new case paperwork took longer than I liked. Still, no regrets here.

Last edited by m45; 11-30-2012 at 02:36 PM..
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      12-04-2012, 10:33 AM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shuggy View Post
When radar isn't involved and you're not getting into the technicalities, usually it is best to just state:

"I stand by my plea of not guilty" on the TBD form.

It eliminates the risk of self-incriminating ourselves or providing too much information and puts the burden on the citing officer to prove us guilty.
It's a very good point re: self-incrimination as these documents do need to be signed under oath.
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      12-05-2012, 03:10 PM   #44
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My friend just won his traffic ticket by written declaration.

He totally made up a believable story that was 90% not true.

He got a speeding ticket and sent in his phone records when the ticket had nothing to due with him talking on the phone.
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