malkusm
10-30-2009, 04:33 PM
Alright guys, I posted this story in another thread, but I figured I should get some opinions on it before I make the decision to fight it.
About a month and a half ago, I was in Atlanta for a football game with a couple friends. I was driving my friend's car, and we had forgotten to bring the directions to the hotel along, so we were wandering around a bit looking for the place. I had probably been driving around for 5-10 minutes or so, not too long, when a cop pulls me over.
The stop was pretty odd from the get-go: in all my experiences with traffic stops, the officer has always asked for two things - driver's license, and vehicle registration. However, this officer asks ONLY for my license, not my registration. Figuring it was implied, I got the registration out anyway (I was driving my friend's car) and held both out the window to the officer. He deliberately took ONLY my license, leaving the registration in my hand.
Anyway, the stop was going on 4 or 5 minutes, and I was thinking "What the hell is taking so long?" since the officer still hasn't told me what I'm being stopped for. At this point, another cop pulls up IN FRONT of my car, coming from the OPPOSITE direction (it was a one-way street). So now I'm thoroughly confused. :confused:
The first cop gets out and asks me to step out of the car. I ask him politely what the reason is, to which he simply repeats his command louder....so I comply. As I'm walking back towards him at the back drivers-side corner of the vehicle, he asks "Are you nervous about anything, son?" in a sort of demeaning tone. I respond with something like, "No sir, tired from driving all the way from Virginia."
The cop then explains what I'm being pulled over for: "Well son, the reason I asked is, you were stopped at that red light back there, and as soon as I pulled up behind you, you took off and ran the red light." :confused: :rolleyes:
So I give a half-hearted, "I don't think so but I'll apologize anyway" apology, and he proceeds to give me the ticket and asks me to sign it. So I start to scan the ticket, looking for the charges or the amount of the fine, etc. I could find neither - the only pertinent information listed was the date of my court appearance - and as I'm scanning the ticket for the info, the officer attempts to pressure me into signing the ticket: "Just sign right there where the X is, sir."
I sign, ask for directions to the hotel (as we were legitimately lost) and go on my way.
Now, I'm pretty sure my court date was in December (I haven't looked at it since I got it and I don't have it handy at the moment), so I pretty much had dismissed the whole thing. Until today, when one of my parents called (my license still lists my parents address in Maryland) and told me that they received a letter dated October 24 which basically says "Your fine of $310 is due no later than 2 weeks of the date of this letter, or your license will be suspended." :eek:
I guess my question is - if you were in this situation, what course of action would you take? Obviously, if it's a $310 fine, I figure there are significant points attached to it....but more than that, I'm thinking of defending myself just based on principle.
Points that support my case:
1) I had two conscious, alert witnesses in the vehicle at the time (all 3 of us were actively looking for the hotel). If I had really been sitting at a red light, and then "took off," I'd imagine ONE of them would have said something. (Both maintain that it's complete BS)
2) The officer didn't ask for my registration, and didn't take it even when I handed it to him. Is this a violation of Georgia state code? (I've tried looking it up, but I'm horrible at finding those sorts of things.)
3) I have a perfect driving record of 6 years, which includes a full calendar year in which I was employed as a delivery driver without incident.
4) The whole thing smells of profiling: Maryland plates in Georgia, 3 white kids in a 90% black neighborhood (both officers were black as well), two of us wearing football jerseys so we were obviously tourists. (Note - I definitely don't plan to use this in my defense :D but I thought I'd point it out.)
:confused:
About a month and a half ago, I was in Atlanta for a football game with a couple friends. I was driving my friend's car, and we had forgotten to bring the directions to the hotel along, so we were wandering around a bit looking for the place. I had probably been driving around for 5-10 minutes or so, not too long, when a cop pulls me over.
The stop was pretty odd from the get-go: in all my experiences with traffic stops, the officer has always asked for two things - driver's license, and vehicle registration. However, this officer asks ONLY for my license, not my registration. Figuring it was implied, I got the registration out anyway (I was driving my friend's car) and held both out the window to the officer. He deliberately took ONLY my license, leaving the registration in my hand.
Anyway, the stop was going on 4 or 5 minutes, and I was thinking "What the hell is taking so long?" since the officer still hasn't told me what I'm being stopped for. At this point, another cop pulls up IN FRONT of my car, coming from the OPPOSITE direction (it was a one-way street). So now I'm thoroughly confused. :confused:
The first cop gets out and asks me to step out of the car. I ask him politely what the reason is, to which he simply repeats his command louder....so I comply. As I'm walking back towards him at the back drivers-side corner of the vehicle, he asks "Are you nervous about anything, son?" in a sort of demeaning tone. I respond with something like, "No sir, tired from driving all the way from Virginia."
The cop then explains what I'm being pulled over for: "Well son, the reason I asked is, you were stopped at that red light back there, and as soon as I pulled up behind you, you took off and ran the red light." :confused: :rolleyes:
So I give a half-hearted, "I don't think so but I'll apologize anyway" apology, and he proceeds to give me the ticket and asks me to sign it. So I start to scan the ticket, looking for the charges or the amount of the fine, etc. I could find neither - the only pertinent information listed was the date of my court appearance - and as I'm scanning the ticket for the info, the officer attempts to pressure me into signing the ticket: "Just sign right there where the X is, sir."
I sign, ask for directions to the hotel (as we were legitimately lost) and go on my way.
Now, I'm pretty sure my court date was in December (I haven't looked at it since I got it and I don't have it handy at the moment), so I pretty much had dismissed the whole thing. Until today, when one of my parents called (my license still lists my parents address in Maryland) and told me that they received a letter dated October 24 which basically says "Your fine of $310 is due no later than 2 weeks of the date of this letter, or your license will be suspended." :eek:
I guess my question is - if you were in this situation, what course of action would you take? Obviously, if it's a $310 fine, I figure there are significant points attached to it....but more than that, I'm thinking of defending myself just based on principle.
Points that support my case:
1) I had two conscious, alert witnesses in the vehicle at the time (all 3 of us were actively looking for the hotel). If I had really been sitting at a red light, and then "took off," I'd imagine ONE of them would have said something. (Both maintain that it's complete BS)
2) The officer didn't ask for my registration, and didn't take it even when I handed it to him. Is this a violation of Georgia state code? (I've tried looking it up, but I'm horrible at finding those sorts of things.)
3) I have a perfect driving record of 6 years, which includes a full calendar year in which I was employed as a delivery driver without incident.
4) The whole thing smells of profiling: Maryland plates in Georgia, 3 white kids in a 90% black neighborhood (both officers were black as well), two of us wearing football jerseys so we were obviously tourists. (Note - I definitely don't plan to use this in my defense :D but I thought I'd point it out.)
:confused: