WTF? Police Story

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

OK, this is something that happened to my brother. I find it funny, only because it's not me who is going through this.

My brother needs to go to the post office. On the way he's on a highway where two lanes merge into one. So he merges, makes the left into the post office parking lot, buys his postage and heads home.

An hour later, there's a knock on his door, and it's a police officer. The police officer asks him if that's his car in the driveway and if he was driving it earlier that day by the post office. My brother says it is and he was. The officer tells him that he's repsonding to a 911 call concerning that vehicle. A driver behind my brother says my brother cut him off, drove at high speeds on the wrong side of the road, pulled into the post office parking lot, where he got into an altercation with another driver.

My brother is like, "Wait... what?!?" My brother tells the police officer that he did go to the post office. He does know where the lanes merge there. He says he didn't hear any horn or screaching breaks when he merged, so he doesn't think he cut anyone off, and he definitely wasn't driving at high speeds on the wrong side of the road, nor did he get into an argument with anyone in or around the post office. All he did was mail some stuff, and that he never realized there was any issue at all until just now.

The police officer explains that they have to investigate all these types of calls, since the guy called 911. So my brother guesses it's possible that maybe he did unknowingly cut the guy off - obviously he did something that pissed this guy off enough that he called 911 - but that none of that other stuff happened.

So the officer thanks him for his time and leaves. My brother thinks that's the end of it. Except a couple of days later he gets a citation in the mail for reckless driving complete with a $200+ fine, points on his license, the whole shebang. And my brother is like.... what the hell?!?!

He's obviously contacted an attorney on this. He finds it incomprehensible that some guy, with no evidence, can write down his license plate number, call up the cops, make up a story, and he gets a citation for reckless driving. In my brother's view - and I tend to agree - if that is the only standard that is needed to get someone slapped with a reckless driving citation anyone could get one. All you need to do is write down a tag number and say someone was driving recklessly, and they get a ticket?

The attorney thinks it shouldn't be a problem getting out of this, because he's never seen anything like this in his 25 years of practicing law. Obviously, my brother can't prove he didn't do any of these things, but the onus should be on the other side to prove he did. The first thing the attorney pointed out was that if you cut him off, and sped down the wrong side of the road at high speeds, how was the other driver able to write down your license plate number unless he followed you down the wrong side of the road?

So to the attornies here on SP - this sounds like a complete load of right? And while he'll probably get out of it, why should he even have to show up in court over something like this? And there's only one way that this is going to go down - the guy is going to say my brother did this, and my brother is going to say that he didn't. It's completely the one guy's word against my brother's word. It sounds to me that the other guy knows someone high up in the police department - I don't even see how you get a citation over something like that.

[Morgoth]

Saw this a few weeks ago on reddit. This guy apparently thinks that now it isn't just the word of your brother against the other guy, but the word of your brother against the other guy and the police officer.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

Except that there was no police officer present to bear witness. The first officer he spoke to was the guy who showed up at his house an hour after the fact.

[Splunge]

It does seem odd that the other driver would be able to get the license plate (and would also know that your brother got into an altercation) unless he followed him. Are there security camaras around the post office that could prove or disprove any of this (including the supposed altercation)?

As a complete guess, maybe the cops' argument is that, if yor brother did something bad enough to cause another driver to call 911, it must have been something illegal ("reckless"), and thus warrants a ticket. I'm not saying I agree with that line of reasoning, but I'm not sure how else they could justify it, unless there's some statute that they're relying on.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Since you say he didn't do it Aldeth, I believe you. Knowing that, I don't see how he doesn't beat it in court. If there is no evidence to show any type of recklessness, it can't hold up... It might be policy for the cop to issue the ticket for this type of complaint and up to the receiver of the ticket to fight it. The justice system is pretty crappy in many areas, this could be just another example of it's crappiness. Either way, it sucks for your bro. 911 calls are public record, he should be able to find out if there was a call against him that day. And, like Greybeard Splunge pointed out, there should be cameras recording at the Post Office. If he wasn't in a confrontation, the footage would show it. He or his lawyer should be contacting them about a copy of video footage if any was obtained. I was able to get footage at Woodman's, a local supermarket, when some lady hit my wife's car and tried to blame it on us. Hopefully the USPS keeps footage for a lengthy period of time.

[Gaear]

Did this occur in Maryland?

[dmc]

I'll give you my legal take on this as if it were California. A traffic ticket is an infraction, meaning it's on the criminal side of things but less than a misdemeanor. The state has the burden of proof on this (which usually gets satisfied when the person pleads guilty), so if you fight it, it is up to the state to bring witnesses and establish by competent evidence your brother's guilt. That means, usually, that the cop testifies about what he saw. The ticket itself cannot be evidence of guilt, the cop needs an independent recollection of the events. (That's how I beat the last ticket I got -- I cross-examined the cop to show he had no recollection at all.)

In the case of your brother's situation, though, the cop cannot testify because he was not the witness. He would need someone who was the witness to come and testify. Seems unlikely to me (as I would imagine that the louse who did this would be afraid to come and testify).

Quite frankly, I find it odd that the cop could even issue a citation in that circumstance. I suppose every state is a little different in this regard but in California, I have a recollection that a cop cannot issue a citation without personally witnessing the infraction. YMMV depending on the state.

[Beren]

+1. A lot of unrepresented guys, and a lot of lawyers representing guys who get tickets, go to traffic court banking on the cop who wrote the ticket not being able to take the time to come to court. And it often works.

If the guy who called it in doesn't show, it'll get thrown out.

[Gaear]

Originally Posted by Aldeth

So my brother guesses it's possible that maybe he did unknowingly cut the guy off - obviously he did something that pissed this guy off enough that he called 911 - but that none of that other stuff happened.

I think this is the crux of the matter ... did your brother actually say that to the investigating officer? That or something like it could be a defacto admission of guilt, and in that case, the police officer could testify to it just as detectives testify as to their interviews of suspects even though they didn't observe their crimes. There are often no witnesses whatsoever, but you don't actually need them to be convicted of a crime. If some evidence points to you, an officer investigates, and you admit guilt to him, it's game over.

[Blackthorne TA]

Admitting the possibility is not the same as admitting the fact.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

OK, in no particular order:

1. I believe my brother when he says none of this happened. My brother laughed at one point because he does tend to speed, and said "I probably have a ticket coming", but on principle I don't want to get one for what I didn't do.

2. There can't be any evidence that he DID get into an altercation from video, but the possibility would exist that it could prove he didn't.

3. My brother lives near State College, so no, it wasn't in Maryland - it was in Pennsylvania.

4. He did not tell the officer he may have cut the guy off - that conversation lasted about two minutes. I can see how my initial post may have given that impression. He said that to ME, not to the officer. He's just guessing that unless the guy just felt like calling 911 on someone, he must have done something that pissed him off.

5. Since there is no officer to give testimony I'm guessing, if this goes to a hearing at all, that they'll have to subpoena the guy who made the original 911 call, or at least bring the recording of the call as evidence.

EDIT: And while this isn't really criminal law, wouldn't there have to be some kind of precedent to give someone a ticket like this?

[Gaear]

Well it's traffic court, so nobody's going to be calling witnesses besides the cop or presenting video evidence or forensic experts. Your brother has done the right thing though and gotten a lawyer. I agree it's a kick in the butt that he has to defend himself, but it will probably be worth it in the end. The savings on possible insurance premium increases should even that out eventually, not to mention things like mandatory driver improvement and whatnot, and just the peace of mind knowing that next time he gets pulled over he won't be going into it with a red flag already up.

[Blackthorne TA]

And while this isn't really criminal law, wouldn't there have to be some kind of precedent to give someone a ticket like this?

No. Moving violations are money makers and municipalities want as many tickets as possible, and hope that the majority of people won't take the time to fight them and just hand over the money.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

It's official - NOT GUILTY!

[dmc]

Yay. Did they even try to prosecute the case at trial?

[Gaear]

And did he get his attorney fees paid by any chance? Would be interesting to know the entire disposition.

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

The attorney is a friend, so no fee charged by him. They decided to not prosecute the case after investigating the scene.