Why everyone should fight their traffic tickets

Luke 11:46 "But he said: Woe to you lawyers also, because you load men with burdens which they cannot bear"

It is very important to remember the presumption of innocence in this country. So many people tend to think, perhhaps subconsciously, that when they "get a ticket" they just "have to pay it".

When people ask why I am so adamant about fighting traffic tickets, I recount the incident  which occurred in June 2001 that spawned my insistence on "pleading not guilty every time, for all time".  I was driving home and came across some sort of checkpoint, reminiscent of nazi germany or Stalinist Russia; suspicionless warrantless checkpoints where they demand your 'papers please'. There was a long line of cars and the Police Dept. had an entire intesection shut down; they had temporarily changed the traffic signal to a flashing red signal, and put a uniformed traffic cop in the center of the intersection, waving motorists through to get to the checkpoint. I obeyed the cop's orders to proceed to the checkpoint, and when I got there the cop manning the checkpoint sneered with a big grin on his face, "there's someone behind you". It was a motorcycle traffic cop, who proceeded to issue me a ticket for purportedly 'running a red light', (the light that the first cop had demended we all go through). This was such an outrageous and affrontive fraud operation that I jumped out of my car and started shouting at them.

That was not a wise thing to do, as today they are likely to blow your head off if you do such a thing. Nevertheless, I went home and got my camera to document this fraud,. When I got back to the intersection, there was an old white lady who was madder than a wet hen. The cops had pulled the exact same fraud on her, and she had gotten her camera to document it as well. We exchanged phone numbers and planned on attending each other's trials, but I later misplaced her number.

At the trial, the commissioner as well as the entire court staff and observers thought my story was cute and amusing, but the commissioner said "I doubt the two officers were working together to give you a ticket". I don't think it's doubtful at all, since it's exactly what happened, but if the same were to happen today I would point out to the judge that I do not have to prove complicity or conspiracy on their part. It is not encumbent upon me to do so. I simply have to show that I was following a uniformed officer's lawful order to proceed through the intersection, so the second cop's charge was completely bogus and unfounded. I also would have appealed this phony ruling, and did a number of other things before trial.

Nevertheless, this was the incident that spawned me to vow that I would fight their system every time, for all time thereafter. Not only was it a bogus conviction which raised my insurance rates for three years, costing me over a thousand dollars, they were literally bearing false witness, and stealing; violating two of God's solumn Commandments on purpose.

I have beaten eight tickets in court since then, once in Superior Court of Appeals, (without a lawyer) where the appeals board (three superior court judges) ruled in my favor. I learned to fight smart, and hold our public servants accountable to their own 'laws'.

The system is a satanic system based on lies and inspired by the father of lies and deception and oppression, satan himself. I hope that these evil pig cops who lie daily and oppress so many people will repent for their own sake, and obey the laws of Jesus Christ.

Now I will tell a few true stories that I often share with people to illustrate the state of our country today.
 

• My neighbor Mario told me the story of a time the city code enforcement stopped by his house to inform him that the strip of gtrass between his front yard and the sidewalk did not have grass or foilage on it. The code enforcement officer issued him and ticket; and to his destruction, he paid it unquestioningly. He hadn't bothered to look up the statute he was charged with, which was, believe it or not, a misdemeanor criminal offense.  After he "paid the fine", which in actuality meant he was pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, the court assigned him a probation officer, who then visited him regularly. The city then bothered him even more, threatening him for charges of chipping paint, grass too long, parking violations, and any other number of tyrannical nonsense.
• Another neighbor, Sam, noticed that someone had tried to break into his daughter's bedroom window. He called the cops to report it and they responded by coming to his house, running his name and arresting Sam himself, taking him to jail for an unpaid traffic ticket from years prior.

• Tony lived with his wife and parents in a two story house with an upstairs apartment which had a separate entrance. Some code enforcement busibodies came snooping around, walked onto the property without a warrant, and asked Tony if he had anyone living upstairs. Being naive of the nature of government and trusting of their intrusive questions, Tony, originally from Russia, told them his business and said yes, he does have renters who live upstairs. The city told him that having renters was 'illegal' and demanded that he kick their tenants out. Tony, who worked construction and also had a part time Ice cream vending business, complied with their orders. Last time I saw him, Tony told me that he was losing is house because he fell beind on his mortgage payments. He also said that he sees the direction this country is headed as starkly reminiscent of the communist soviet union he lived under as a boy.

• Ceasar had a drunk driver crash into his parked car on the street in front of his house. The cops came and took a report and arrested the driver. They refused to give Ceasar any information about the woman or her insurance policy. Last I talked with him, he was getting the runaround from the local police. Since liability insurance is compulsory in California, they should not have had a problem giving Ceasar the company name and poilicy number. They seem to have forgotten that they are public servants.

Scott recieved a ticket for jaywalking in Los Angeles and protested to the cop that the flashing sign in the crosswalk had still said 17 seconds remaining. "No", the cop replied, "if you even enter the intersection once the red hand has begun flashing, you have violated the law". The ticket was more than a hundred bucks, so Scott decided to plead not guilty; he had never fought a ticket before. He wanted to get a bail waiver, but was told he had to see the judge. At his arraignment upon his first appearance in court, he pled 'not guilty' and requested a bail waiver. The judge in this Los Angeles county courthouse on Hill Street required that anyone who wants a bail waiver has to show up the next week a second time, to prove they are trustworthy to show up for trial on their own recongnisance.
The next week, however, Scott was busy with a sales appointment and neglected to show up. This was a very bad decision. Any time you have a court date and neglect to show up, increased fines are levied and additional charges are filed against you. They might also issue a "failure to appear" warrant for your arrest and put a 'hold' on your DMV driver license.

When Scott got these notices in the mail he was flabergasted and even more disgusted at this system. The next time he appeared in court he was forced to pay nearly six hundred dollars. The next time he pleads not guilty, he should consider the gravity of the situation. These people are not playing games. If you are going to engage them and make use of your right to trial, you had better take it seriously. Asserting your right to the "presumption of innocence" can be a very rewarding process, and is not very difficult if you do a little research, but you have to do it the right way.

VICTORIES

Here are a few victories that friends of mine have had after I told them about my traffic ticket victories.

Victor got a $300 speeding ticket and asked the cop for the county seat. The cop got very angry and demanded to know "why do you want it". Victor told the cop that he worked out toward the county courthouse, and the cop eventually granted the county seat, which means that he would have had to drive 30 miles to court instead of 3 miles to the local court. He did not do this, so Victor won. This was the first time Victor was victorious in fighting a traffic ticket

Sylvia Smith had gotten a $600 traffic ticket (a bail amount which is obscene in itself) and decided to fight it. She requested a bail waiver at the clerk's window, ("I can't afford it right now"), which was granted. Some courts require that you see a judge in order to get a bail waiver, but her local court did not. She then filed what's called a 'TRIAL BY DECLARATION' (through the mail). The good thing about this is that, under the California vehicle code, if you lose a trial by declaration, you are entitled to a 'trial de novo', which means 'of new' in Latin. This is an entirely new trial, not an appeal of the first one. I have had several trial de novos after losing my trial by declarations.

Sylvia wrote three words on her trial by declaration: "I'm not guilty". She did this because the state can not dictate what you write in your defense, so you can write whatever you want. If she had written her entire defense on her trial by declaration and then lost that case, the officer and prosecutor would then know her defense in advance of her trial in person, if she opted to have one. The cop in Syllvia's case did not submit hsi required paperwork for the trial by declaration, so she won the case. Sylvia was ecstatic and could not believe that she won her case without ever taking the day off work for court or paying the bail. It was the first time she had ever fought a ticket and I would guess not her last.

John Shanahan had gotten a seat belt ticket and questioned the officer on the side of the road why he was snooping into his vehicle without probable cause. John argued against the very idea of such nonsense laws which do not prevent anyone's person or property from being damaged. He asked if the sherriff swore an oath to the Constitution, to which the cop said no. John later called the sherriff's office , who faxed him a copy of the oath that all sherriff's swear to, which despite the officer's denial, does indeed include an oath to the California as well as U.S. Constitutions. John then got a bail waiver and submitted his trial by declaration, stating. The officer did not submit his paperwork, (probably out of embarassment) so John won the case. Full story on this case can be found here.

Paul Lopez recently beat a red light camera ticket. This particular ticket involved turning right on a red light. A lot of these red-light camera tickets are issued to motorists who allegedly do not make a 'complete stop' before turning right on red. Paul was driving his mom's car, but the ticket was issued to his mom because she was the registered owner. She showed up to court and the judge dismissed it because the driver in the photo was not her, but then the court scanned their records and found that a male was listed as having lived at the same address and mailed another ticket to Paul (I don't know if that is even legal). 

Paul  got the maximum number of extensions, used the discovery process in preparation for the case, and printed out the list of questions from the free site HelpIGotaTicket.com. These are the questions that the defendent will ask the witness (cop) in court during trial. If you use the system's own  'laws' and minutia against them, they will most likely, in my experience, LOSE. They're 'law enforcement', after all, so surely they love it when we use their 'law' against them, right?

I hope you have found this information helpful. Please note that I am not a lawyer, nor would I want to be one.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 5:7-8 "If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these: Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land subject to him".