notguilty

Yes guys....I got caught doing 50 over.....yes i was dumb doing so, yes i was an idiot, please save all the rude comments i know i wasn't right there and then.

The story goes:
I was doing a right hand turn at this back road high way (country road) and accelerated in my wrx a bit too fast. You know when you see nobody in your or other lane sometimes it feels to push on it a little.
There was a little hill so was doing 142km/h(cop said) in the 80. Yes it was dumb of me. And i usually don't drive fast usually
Anyways on the upcoming lane 2 cars were driving and 3rd one was the cop. It still blows me away how he could clock me when he was right behind those car??

Anyways I saw him starting to pull over before i even passed him. Thats when i was like "Yes i'm ****ed!" and preceded to pull over to the side of the road. Saw the copper do the most unsafe U-turn to the point where he did the biggest fish tale with his Crown Vic.

Before he came to my car i whipped out my IPhone and turn Recording application on so i can get everything he and i say to each other (put it in my door handle).
He obviously said im getting charged with stunt driving and street racing (2 charges).
Called the towtruck.
My buddies showed up in the truck (the shop i was heading to was only 30 sec away, bad luck!)
Cop saw my friends and quickly called a back up cruiser.
I started taking photos of my car just in case those guys at the towtruck company end up damaging my car in any way.
While i was doing a photoshoot also took a photo of the second cruiser parked behind the original police officer with out having it's cherries on (not sure if that will help but don't they put them on for safety?).
Then I came up to the copper's car and asked him whats the deal? Obviously asked him to spare me. He had no mercy on me in any way.
Officer showed me on his inside radar that he clocked me at 139km/h. Ok so i saw it for myself. (I got him on my iphone again him saying 139 not 142 ofcourse without him knowing that im recording him)
Then my baby got towed away.
When the cop was done the paper work he came to me (i was recording again) and told me he's charging me going 142 km/h,(That's the number stated on the ticket)
i was like "What? You told me 139km/h!
He then says "Well i witnessed you going 142/kmh but recorded at 139km.h"
I wanted to blow up but kept my cool knowing that i had him on tape.
Got in my friend's truck and we took off.


Guy's i know it was very dumb of me and worst thing is i commute for my work so this is a big kick in the ***** for me.
All im asking is for a good advice from some of you

I got that cop on tape 4 times and tomorrow im taking a day off work and going to go see some lawyer and heading to the courthouse to talk to the clerk and see if I can get my car before my 7 day expires (Thats what cop told me himself).
I really really hope those photos and recordings will help me.

I should be innocent until proven guilty

ticketcombat

It takes some guts to post your story. Most discussion boards would bring out the "shock and outraged" responses that you were driving that fast and the "you deserve it" attitude. Hopefully not here.

A couple of points, actually several, I want to make.

1. It's really hard to get convicted for street racing. See this article about the OPP officer who was charged by his colleague who was in the car with him.
   
   
2. Although it's hard, it still happens. The stats are about 30% get convicted.
   
   
3. Typically if you go with a lawyer/paralegal, they will be looking at reducing the charge, not eliminating it. For example, I was in court last week and saw a paralegal plead down three separate street racing charges to 149km/h over. You avoid the $2k fine but it's still $423, 4pts and a potentially huge insurance hit (plus his fees). You have to decide what you are willing to accept. It is fairly easy to get this reduction and you can likely negotiate it yourself.
   
   
4. Your description of the officer's conduct and what you've recorded is not very relevant. Sorry! He does not have to show you the radar reading. And he could have observed a higher reading before locking it in.
   
   
5. As street racing is a strict liability charge unlike old fashioned speeding, you can, like OPP Constable Tapp above, come up with a good due diligence defence that raises reasonable doubt.
   
   
6. You should also challenge the moving radar calculation, calibration, and all the general speed determination evidence as you would a regular speeding ticket.
   
   
7. Plus a solid disclosure request is definitely advisable. (see ticketcombat.com for detailed info on all of the above.)
   
   
8. Since the constitutional legality of the street racing legislation is really up in the air, a constitutional challenge based on sections 7 and 11 of the Charter would be appropriate. You have an excellent chance of getting a stay. Even if you aren't successful, the threat of the constitutional challenge will give you more ammunition to negotiate a reduced charge with the prosecutor.
   
   
9. And of course if you are not convicted then you should be looking at getting the license suspension and towing charges revoked. You might find the following case helpful: Lorincz v. Ace Towing out of Nova Scotia regarding the tort.
   

Good luck and good fight!

notguilty

Thank you for your understanding and well put in response.
You have a pm.

judgez24

well, shitty thing that happened. personally i would have just speed up and got the hell out of there. in the situation youre in you were either gonna get caught with what you did, or get away, or get caught running, either way you were either gonna get off or get nailed with an assload of fine.

tht being said, recording the cop without his consent is illegal and chances are it wont hold up in court.

now, id fight it till i was blue in the face, your quilty but work on a reduction, now presenting the recording to the court will **** the cop off especially if hes trying to screw you in the process and your making him look bad, thats gonna make him and his buddies randomly target you and give you free roadside inspections and nail you for everything they can. ive got buddies who are cops and ive talked to them about this stuff and this is what theyd do in a situation like this. consult a lawyer and see what he says. good luck

notguilty

I really did not know that recording cops is illigal. Strange.
I'm still going to let the lawyer hear it just in case we can grab on something. Better than nothing I suppose.
Not sure if running the cop would be smart idea I have way too much to loose. I could drop her in 4th and be gone but not familiar with area.
Does anybody know if this offence considered as criminal offence? Like DUI for exemple?

ticketcombat

The offence is a provincial offence under the Highway Traffic Act, not a criminal offence.

I think there is some confusion about recordings. It is illegal to tape a phone conversation without the consent of the other party. That's why when you call Bell or Rogers or anybody else they say "some calls are recorded for quality assurance and training purposes".

Video taping public places or having a camera on your dash is not illegal and the evidence can be used in court. Watch any episode of COPS: the police have in car cameras and they will definitely use them to get a conviction! (I know it's a US example, but Canadian cops also use them).

A smart cop will act as if he's on camera with every traffic stop. It's just the prudent thing to do. In your case however, I don't think you recorded anything worthwhile.

Selling a recording of someone without their consent is illegal as is recording in a public place where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

notguilty

So i hired a lawyer who dealt with my mother about 2 years ago. Back then she got charged with careless driving and when she was riding a scooter and got hit on the side by a minivan who was comming out of the driveway. Cop said it was her faul......go figure eh.

Anyways he got her off and she got some insuarence money as well. The guy did a good job on doing what he does everyday.
I called 3 lawyers today and chose him. He told me he pretty much deals with 50 over at least a couple of times a week now a days and has some good experience with it by now.
He is pretty confident that he will do a good job. I sure hope so.
Faxed him my tickets today and he got them. On my court day he's the one who's going to be there not me. Is that a good idea??
Also I'm keeping a log of how much money I had to spend during this trial. Than includes lawyer cost, parking,food, gas money for other individuals ect. I really want to know how much it will cost me at the end.

judgez24

neither was doing that much over the limit, you would have likely gotten away if you had run and you would have saved yourself months of your time, thousands of your dollars and this post wouldnt have been necessary

judgez24

did the lawyer tell you how much hes charging you? im just wondering what ones worth and im sure others are aswell. you dont have to go to court as the lawyer will represent you but if you dont mind missing a day of work its good to go and see how well he works on your behalf and to see exactly what he has to say and just to see if hes worth the money youre paying him

notguilty

i see where you're comming from but I simply didn't know the area.

Even my friend who picked me up (he owned an '89 Cobra) was telling me how I should have ran........he did a couple times before

I see that you have a 5L, if you're interested I have a video on youtube of us cruising in that thing to Grandband track. PM for the link

The lawyer told that this will cost me $1000.....I really want to make an agreement with him where I give him $500 downpayment (that's what he request for anyways) and if he clears me I'd give him another $500.......But really im ready to pay it as long as I get off.
You will never speed me again.

ticketcombat

If this lawyer deals with this charge "a couple of times a week", how many of his cases does he plead down and how many get an acquittal? The reason I ask is that he can't mount a due diligence defence if you're not there!

Check out this case for an absolutely terrible defence. She didn't bring the defendant in nor was their any defence arguments!!!
R. v. Araujo, 2008. Don't let this happen to you!

dickert

Hey sorry to hear about your bad luck, if i was you you in the wrx i def would have hit it, its a rally car it can handle it lol. cops can only charge you with speed they have locked in on the moving radar, the recording of the convos may help you, it suggests and raises doubt in the officers conduct def use it, i suggest getting a decent lawyer. well keep us posted

judgez24

for sure man pm me the link.

as for the lawyer, find out what he considers to be getting you off. i was giving a hefty speeding ticket once upon a time and i went to those dinks at pointts. the guy said for like 300 bucks hes gonna take my case, said at the very least hes gonna have it lowered. but hes pretty sure he can get it dropped or atleast get it down to nothing. the ticket was only like 250 bucks so i said **** it, if i can keep my insurance from going up and what not then ill give it a go. he had the ticket dropped by 10 kph and a few bucks. thats bullshit. if i had shown up to court, just for being there, 99% of the time the judge will drop the ticket by that much. ive had 8 or 9 speeding tickets in my time, fought them all, and everyone has been dropped by 10 kph just for me showing up, standing there like an idiot, and saying yes sir no sir thank you sir. so mak sure this guy is gona get you off, 1000 bucks is alot of money to pay for something you might be able to do yourself, and make sure you go to court to watch him challange the officer dont just assume hes gonna do so based on what he says

ticketcombat

I would go even further. If he's in court on such a frequent basis working on these tickets, then you can see him in action working on someone else's charge. Courts are public places. Anyone can go and watch. You'll see what you can expect to happen to your case.

I'm not suggesting that the lawyer is not capable. I'm just saying for $1k you should "test drive before you buy". See if he's got game, then decide.

nascarmaniac

vey smart, very good advice. im going to remeber that if i ever get into a similar situation