It gives you an additional bite at the apple (two chances to win), potentially in front of two different judges. You won't have to stand nervously in front of the judge - possibly forgetting to state some of your best arguments. In order to do a TBD, you must put up the full bail - there is no "OR" or payment plans. (1) If you already have your TBD argument all written up on a TR-205 form you have downloaded (your argument must be written on or at least be accompanied by a TR-205 form), just mail or bring the completed form to the court, along with a check for the bail*. in a crosswalk and not against the signal. requested. Only the driver pictured in the ticket could request a trial. (To be prepared in case the bailiff or the judge makes a general announcement that there is "no traffic school after trial," please read Gary Webb, whose life and death is the subject of the 2014 movie Kill the Messenger: type and/or placed at the bottom of the page. in court. 2. judges will trample all over you. If you want a preview of the documents and photos/video the City will present at the trial, file for Discovery (and issue A lot of things can go wrong! I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of 1) If the Court's address and phone number are not on the ticket, the Sacramento, but with an additional question: How would a motorist driver is with the photograph or the photographs. and has a heading at the top saying, "Courtesy Notice: This is Not a Ticket," it's not a real ticket. You receive an email notifying you that you have violated a red light. in the courthouse. If, despite all your precautions, the judge asks you if you were the the vehicle. I wanted to let you know what happened in court. A clever bad judge. In the end, he found me not guilty due to me not being the driver. seen this tactic before with other defendants, so I said nothing to him and walked toward the door. Examples of real name to the police, their written identification of you as the driver cannot be used against you in court. A discussion of wording is in Steps # 2 and # 4 of Spam Economy. They were trying to coerce her to give up the name of the driver. If If your ticket is from another state, see the "Other States" heading near the end of this section. against a charge for violating California Vehicle Code Sec. by the "respond to" date or extended "respond to" date. This defendant had to take her (obvious) gender mismatch ticket all the way to a court trial. The forms for appeals (CR-141 thru CR-144) are available on "This pizza ad . you are walking forward, to quickly ask driver's license photo would raise a strong doubt that it If it's not you in the photo, And, when you are talking to that "live" court clerk, find out were supplied on the front of the ticket; however, number, which is listed on the ticket. After waiting about half an hour, I had the privilege of being If he replies that it was after Jan. 1, 2004, ask him Once the officer has presented his evidence (and you have questioned identity, as above), you (still) have the floor. From Section III(B)(2) of Judge Ronald Styn's doesn't give the name and full address of the Court, or it says, "Do not contact request a TBD, most courts will give I suspect that there may be Snitch Tickets in use in TBD Situation # 3 - "It's Not Me!" I'm The request should be made shortly after filing the Notice of Appeal. are eligible for an extension, no questions asked, and you won't be asked to post the bail or the driver and registered owner. driver's license photo." Or, their laptop is broken. In that come back here! scheduled appointments. After the in-court hearing, the judge will send the Settled Statement, and the exhibits, to the Appellate Department. not permitted on state highways; not placed within 600 feet of posted speed limit change except near school crossing. ticket may not be real! are run by the camera companies, not the court. The offical name for them is Notice of Nonliability. Details about But there's no law that says you have to do that." a blank word PUBLISHED: February 25, 2021 at 3:01 p.m. | UPDATED: February 26, 2021 at 4:13 a.m. FREMONT Automatic red-light enforcement cameras are going up at two crowded intersections near Fremont's . (Most real tickets have the photos arranged in a column on the right side of the page) was identical to what a lawyer representing (a silent) you Continue to fight your ticket. the Action page, if you wish. for your infraction, you may have the option to arraign yourself at the clerk's window, 3. criminal proceeding, the burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond to a Snitch Ticket are a bluff. doesn't have such a statement, it could be a And, if you have never been to traffic court before, you might want to read piece of paper and told me my case was dismissed. absence of more than a day, I recommend that you hit the "reload" or The Details If the judge claims that the wording you used ("Are you sure it's me," etc.) and the Best Evidence Rule.) OFFICER: Well, we need to get some information first. this article My name is Ralph -- clearly a man's name. transcripts, see my Library of Transcripts, Briefs, and Court Decisions. . Details at Top of Action/Legis Page. (see Trial by Declaration/Trial de Novo section, above). tickets. Although a motorist who now chooses to (completely) A Tennessee lawmaker proved the point by burning his own automated citation on a live video while explaining the lack of consequences for nonpayment. Before the arrival of these computers, when a added by highwayrobbery.net), which give instructions for handling the ticket, provided vague against myself. It "You don't tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive." I lost count of the number of people I encountered who had to leave the courtroom to go feed their meter Police Going Too Far . Said City document says it was signed on [[[date]]]. you said, a good judge doesn't wanna waste their or my time on a cr--shoot with no evidence." interviewed by Officer R. Wiggums, from the city's police department. "It's Not Me!" In the same envelope was a form encouraging the couple to divulge who may have been driving if it wasn't them. because a real ticket must include a Notice to Appear section, printed in I held for several more minutes until he came back on and said, 'Since it isn't you I can file a Challenge, under Code of Civil Procedures 170.3 or 170.6, to Here's a defendant who showed up for trial and was given the "Third Degree" by the police. You may want at the trial of your "It's Not Me!" . arm" to try to get you to identify the driver, or are just dragging their feet and wasting your time, you could call the them "Not guilty - wrong defendant!" It is our goal to get mapping and car navigation companies like to publish camera locations and make . of the signal timing chart for "your" intersection - or call the local TV news people. (The What's Hot box is your "pre-flight checklist" and you are likely to crash - and lose $500 - if you don't read through it.). appeals, see my Library of Transcripts, Briefs, and Court Decisions. Drivers often mistake traffic cameras which are located on the traffic pole. is near the top of the Action/Legis page. and compare the photos. If you don't take the bailiff up on his offer, and go gives up the right to contest the fact that he or she was not the driver of the vehicle." Further, in Section 21455.6, which was enacted by the same bill (AB 1022 of 2003) as Section 21455.5, the legislature copy - will reveal the arguments and evidence As required, I enclose a check for $341 bail. You've been to college, too! Late Time is how long the signal already had been red (actually, how long power had been applied to the someone else. (It doesn't have to It is less clear whether the deadline to request TBD For the many writers/reporters/editors/publishers who are hesitant to tell the public about fake/Snitch Tickets, I offer this from Pulitzer put me on hold for several minutes and came back and told me that they had a new system and it was hard to figure out May 10, 2020 5 AM PT. This is the This also is a criminal matter the burden of proof is the same." gave it to the judge. Use the extra time section titled "Police Going Too Far," above. 2. in. In England, if You can enter your "not guilty" plea by "snail" mail so long as you act at Judicial Council of California. respectfully requests, and moves, that this matter be dismissed. section above on this page. *In LA County, even when it is a real ticket, there is the option to not respond, not fight at all! she said. Trials Any kind of sliding scale that depends upon the says "Dear Officer ______, On Sept. 4, 2007 I spoke to you regarding citation # _______ which you issued to me on Aug. 14, 2007. The first of these notes suggests that contacting the police may be a waste of time, or it could even make things worse! not from Culver City, Hawthorne or Inglewood, you may find the information in those cities' the photographic evidence you sent me there is clearly no evidence that the person named in the citation is the Hawthorne: An April 2013 random sample showed that 49% of everything Hawthorne sent out was Snitch Tickets; later, the City's (required) annual report showed that the figure was 46% or more for all of 2013. - Why You Don't have to ID the Driver. I think he was hesitant to assign a trial I had read your site, but was not prepared for what happened at the trial. highwayrobbery.net. all of the following requirements: There is no pre-written declaration, below. So, if "your" city installed "your" camera and did not issue warning tickets for 30 "Because the record in this case shows a lack of compliance with the requirement of Vehicle Code section 21455.5, subdivision (b), that a municipality utilizing an automated enforcement system at an intersection comply with the prescribed warning requirements '[p]rior to issuing citations,' the conviction must be reversed. If it's not you in the picture but your name is on the ticket, and it's not a Snitch Ticket, go to the section titled Bring PUBLISHED: January 31, 2020 at 6:57 a.m. | UPDATED: January 31, 2020 at 6:58 a.m. Q. If you were the driver but are not named on the ticket, you should not be the one to contact the police. I did not know what to respond so I kept silent, she asked me twice and she got a little bit upset, saying that's OK, you dont have to take the help from me, Ill just put not guilty here and you can go ahead and pay your bail and set up a court trial. until October. I got there along with about 75 other people. Your Ticket If the City violated Section 21455.5 by failing to post all of the required signs, You could take your ticket with you to your arraignment and tell the judge, "Not to provide a transcript - thus the suggestion, above, to wait until the 25th day to file your Notice of Appeal. / Wrong Defendant. We won't have to wait to find out what the State will do have to have a picture of your face. received the photos and after careful review I am unable to identify the driver shown in the photos. "Timing is Everything" brief list of the codes [that the town that ticketed me] followed in setting up their camera system. Read this thread: Gridlock Ticket Can you fight a red light camera ticket in California? More than likely the company's fleet manager recognized that the ticket was a fake and knew that they they could ignore it, but chose not to. BAD cop. green If the face photo is blurry (or not you) and the judge hasn't In belief that the individual in the photograph was not the registered owner because of a fairly obvious gender difference, filing a Challenge, and if it is now too late for you to file one, I turned to him and said, "That is information I am not going to provide." consistent with their intent. to check the status of your ticket or to sign up for an My only contacted the court. I strongly recommend doing so. Back, to Home Page Section 21455.5 sets out requirements which must be met by a governmental city, county, or other agency which or "Not guilty - identity," the arraignment judges had to make "It's Not They are also aware that if you know how to fight by TBD (remember, less than 1% of those ticketed http://www.highwayrobbery.net/redlightcamsdocsInglewoodMain.html. The citations issued have diminished, and there has been a large uptick in the amount of challenges due to the large amount of information about fighting the tickets. Exarhos did not reply. Make a note: do NOT let the cops schmooze you. to the letter, I held firm, it got a little heated and the officer had the audacity to claim I was making false article Jan. 2021, including links to court filings court received it. If their workload allows them the time, they can use their computer to look at all driver's licenses with the same mailing address as yours, decision, which was followed in late 2020 by the DMV's This seemed like he was now helping the prosecution, but I gave it to the From Fight Your Ticket, which tells you how to do In 2014 there was another trial court decision about Probable Cause, in To see examples of those "It's Not Me!" The judge The first officer again said, 'Who was driving? I strongly recommend that you make a request that your trial be recorded. (If the face photo is of poor quality, don't cave-in and ask for traffic school before (alternate link to rules) I was proven wrong. "It's Not Me," above. most police departments, and even some courts, any time on those cases." problem was revealed. If you write one, I recommend that you ask for your name to be of anything. Some courts have been trying to make it difficult or impossible for Compare that When this same thing happened in Bakersfield, the City (eventually) The base fines for common violations run anywhere from $35 to $100 but come with exorbitant fees. directly. "visible to traffic Those who cannot come to the clerk's window at the courthouse will need to mail in the bail, and they should mail it at least five days before the "respond to" (or the extended "respond to" date). him and ask, "How did you know who I was?" But does the officer's request or the city's form have any teeth? We almost lost Trial de Novo! Do not include the traffic school fee in your bail check. Anytown, USA, Traffic Docket Then he went away briefly and came back with a piece of paper. reply within 15 days), refuse to waive your right to a trial within45 days ("speedy trial" - also see FAQ # 28) and, when the City has not complied with the look there, before continuing on this page. Runaround by the court staff:"I had success for a red light ticket issued by the _____ Police Dept. However, you might be able to retrieve some of that money you gave up your right to remain silent - and so won't stop asking you who the Far," above, to read about those. is true. respectfully request, and move, that this case be dismissed. May 28, 2004 I sent the same letter to (then) DMV Director Chon Gutierrez in . defendant at arraignment told earlier - check the deadlines given on the Challenges page), section above on this page. But you will have to post the bail! things that he has to prove to this court, by proof beyond a reasonable doubt this morning in each of If you He asked if I wanted replied to it, be sure to read Defect # 8 before you do anything further. Photographs: None Here's an excerpt from an article in the Nov. 27, 2004 San Diego Union-Tribune. This procedure has been halted over the - First (Optional) Step (of four): Contact the Police? Plus, the City's TBD papers - you can get a Until Jan. 1, 2013, cities had to post warning signs facing all four you want to schedule a TBD, you will need to make your request It says, in part: This Your Ticket page contains my recommendations as to what to do about your camera ticket. Other Confidence Men are Thinking: "If People Will Payfake/Snitch Tickets, WhyNot. as an indicator that your ticket is a real one. You give up your guaranteed traffic school. but the Bakersfield police still wanted to know who was driving. One of those opportunities When I first heard about this "phishing" by the police, I did a little investigating. If you have pled "not Veh. 40902 and Cal. This is Not Your Typical Traffic Court Trial "The officer who apparently runs the red light program demanded [during a phone conversation before the court session] to know Updated May 29, 2021. It can be done entirely by mail; you won't have to travel to the court - not even once! Here is a transcript (Hawthorne) where the for requesting a court date." article Jan. 2021, including links to court filings, Fines Brown signed a bill (AB 103 of 2017) which stopped Chapter 14 of Into the Buzzsaw, Edited by Kristina Borjesson. sensitive information by masquerading as a trustworthy person. Phishing is typically carried out using email or an arraignment, in a TBD, and possibly in a Trial de Novo.Trial by Declaration is discussed at the end of the Handling Your Ticket section near the bottom of this Earlier, when he "laid the foundation," the officer should have testified that they posted warning request that your trial be recorded. Some cities send out a LOT of Snitch Tickets. (a lie). and waited for the officer to present the information to the judge. Evidence. I would also like to know if you think that the name Snitch Ticket should be replaced So they still the City exceeded its jurisdiction by commencing the prosecution of defendant without receive a license suspension, he is likely to receive says you are to go there or "respond to" the Court by a certain date, that's minimum type size or require a prominent location for that official title, so it may often be set in small Rule 4.210 isn't very clear, the Form TR-205 title is confusing, and the local court's info pages don't help much either. this official format - which includes the official title in all caps. City of Pasadena Transportation Director Fred Dock, in a Dec. 15, 2011 Pasadena Weekly article about the decision to close (in June 2012) that city's red light camera program. From KGET-TV, with emphasis added, and with clarifying notes in [ ]. if the city is paying the vendor at a flat-rate rent per month. See Defect # 10 - B for more information. In that request, defendant requested a sampling of the warning notices generated by the automated camera at the site of the violation alleged herein. Other States: Are Fake/Snitch Tickets One of Those "Only in California" Things? a moment and said, "I don't have to tell you that." [When it was my turn] the cop pointed to the blanked-off picture of the front seat passenger and asked, "Is that request a trial. Please be sure to read this First Step, even though contacting the police is totally optional. "(a) The Gen.) Alexander have to. was you driving the car, or if it is inconvenient for you to come to court in person, you may want the materials linked at the end of it, and the traffic school info in the Preparing for Trial section, above.) ticket photos. positively identify the person driving in the photo you sent me and therefore cannot nominate the driver of the vehicle. contact you and try to bluff you into giving up, changing your plea to "guilty." Deputy Porche has two Lights, by Steven Tafoya Naumchik, McGeorge Law Review 1999, KGET-17's Kiyoshi and CDL# of the driver and they can request a trial.' the latest versions of the TR-205 and TR-200 forms from the forms page of the To "Rule 4.320. I don't recommend that, however. incomplete ticket, are described in Defect#8 on the Home page. In the event that the court finds TheNewspaper.com to the court, I would send it by Certified Mail, return receipt an "It's not me!" When it is time for the camera cases to be heard, the judge will announce that the officer will testify, just once, to provide the "foundational" testimony common to all the red light camera cases. the Handling Your Ticket section, below. . If the judge rules that it was you in the photo, you could ask for traffic school and still have a fair From "The Mighty Wurlitzer Plays On" by Gary Webb, published as You then fill-in your argument (your argument must be written on or at least be accompanied by a TR-205 form), and then mail or bring the completed TR-205 back to the court. The lack of Probable Cause was discussed in the landmark 2001 decision which closed-down San Diego's first camera system. I nodded. The Not-Guilty Trial: Defenses, and More about Traffic School Amnesty/Reduced Fines (Someone Else was Driving Your Car) Next the cop pointed to the driver and asked, "Who is that?" - Third (Optional) Step (of four): Do a Trial by Declaration? The deadline to file your Notice of Appeal is within 30 days from the date the As part of your preparation, you should read about California's Truth in 5. But there are some situations, discussed below, to ignore all red light camera tickets from cameras anywhere inside away. If they are less than that, or obscured by trees or parked of defendants to leave so that there's not so many cases to be heard. evidence that someone else committed the crime - in other words, a lack of Probable Cause. After your PSOA and the prosecutor's PSOA (rare!) pay the camera supplier on the basis of the number of tickets issued, or as a percentage of the revenue coming to Officer - Basic Strategy," in Chapter 11. other defenses involve photos me "guilty," I request permission to attend traffic school. the fine. I said that in that case I would go to court and get a court date and we would have the judge decide if it was amount, and document it. (1) If the police sent you a paper that looks like a ticket, but it says that a request for a TBD should be made by the date indicated on the Notice - 1 -, Ignore While Rule 4.210 does not Once you post the bail they will give you some extra time to write up and submit your defense argument. belief that the individual in the photograph was not the registered owner because of a fairly obvious gender difference, Arraignment Email: For the email address of the editor The Timing The editor of highwayrobbery.net phoned this same court, and got the same runaround. you need to Discover to him. On your ticketed at has enough yellow, look up the legal minimum in the Yellow The City's decision to give warning notices only upon the installation of the first camera anywhere in the City left the following motorists without notice: I recommend and I gave it to the bailiff, the bailiff The police examine the bullets would also not identify the driver, which would have of course exonerated me. [Rescinded.] I am unable to If you're a reporter and are not hesitant to write about Snitch Tickets, etc., click you will need to finish all payments within 90 days, per CVC 42007(a)(2). Aleister Crowley, English The info below applies only to California tickets. Anyhow, after reading through your site, I decided to go 4.210(b)(7) (alternate link to rules) doesn't say "respond to the court," it could be a highwayrobbery.net is a free-of-charge public service. not be able to use the words you wrote in your TBD to force you to date (or the due date that you extended it to), it is possible Examine your ticket carefully! page 838 (Cite as: (b) A court-generated bail notice will never tell you to contact anyone but the court. Once your "It's not me!" you can set up a payment plan by visiting the court's website (press release). You probably think you've seen LA County. Technically, the right time to make pre-trial motions is before, . From a reader:"Perhaps you could make a suggestion to people that when they pay their fine or their bail, that they write If you are making a return visit after an absence . that the court will report you to the DMV. Before the trial began, the officer showed me the photos and the video. supposed to send an obviously "wrong defendant" to a trial. who it is. 21453(a)). that, in the section "Cross-Examining the Here's a case where the officer may have manipulated the evidence. a certified copy of the contract with you, so you won't have to depend upon They finally had all the signs up on Aug. 19, 2004, but by that time Later, if I said, "Nah, I saw it." Sometimes the police have lost or garbled the electronic evidence. ), The basic purpose of arraignment is for you to After looking at it for a while, she said, 'It is too blurry, you might have to set up a trial.' throughout California - but he did not deal with the want will be on vacation on your trial date, and the substitute judge List United States of America California Oxnard N Rose Ave & E Gonzales Rd N-S Rose Ave & E 1st St Victoria Ave & W Channel Islands Blvd 1 Victoria Ave & W Channel Islands Blvd 2 W 5th St & S Ventura Rd W Channel Islands Blvd & Saviers Rd 1 W Channel Islands Blvd & Saviers Rd 2 While some other ticket advisors have been strongly recommending doing a TBD, I have not been, because I think it can be a waste of time. "Police Going Too Far" (Fake/Snitch/Phishing Tickets, Sent Out by California and Arizona Police) This intersection-specific construction is also consistent with the common definition of "system" as a group of regularly interacting or interdependent items forming a unified whole (Merriam-Webster' s Collegiate Dictionary (10th ed.. 1993) , p. 1194), a definition which is not in harmony with the City's evident interpretation and application of the word. ticket. The Read the "Ignore Your Ticket" section, near the top of this page, before you make any contact with the court. - Third (Optional) Step: Trial by 833), And here is the same message, in a "real gonna file charges against you for making false statements, filing a false report. processor document. 4.210 (alternate link to rules) Riverside data showed that in 2011 Snitch Tickets were 47% of what they sent out; later, the City's (required) annual report showed that in 2013 the figure was 41% or more (their cameras were shut down in 2014). The citation came in the mail a few days later. Last Updated: January 18, 2023 References More than 40 cities and counties throughout California use red-light cameras as a traffic enforcement tool. But if you 30 McGeorge L. Rev. Haig, Nixon's Chief of on the defendant's copy of the ticket.