A Day In Court

[hamiltonau]

So i finally had my day in court for the 'drinking while driving charge' i copped the day before my suspension. It was a long wait considering the ticket was in early january and im not sure i should have bothered considering the result but I did get to sit on a hard wooden bench in a stuffy overheated, overcrowded courtroom all day and listen to other people moan about how poor they are and how much they need their license to visit their sick mother/drive eleventy miles to work. so it was ALL bad!

anyway i did actually get a little bored while waiting for my case to be heard so jotted down some notes on the results of the other 20 or so matters that went up before mine. Wasnt sure whether there would be interest in reading about them in detail but will jot down the cliffs and depending on the response go back on days off and do a little more research..

oh and my matter?

All she wanted to hear about was why I have the number plates HOONS and do i think thats why i was pulled over..I answered in the affirmative as thats what the coppers actually told me on the day. The young female judge smirked and with a glint in her eye said 'well maybe the first thing you should do when you get out of here today is change them?"

There was some sympathy for the ticket based on my plea of

a) ignorance of the law regarding open containers

b) no record of alcohol related offenses

c) no ACTUAL alcohol in my system or BAC on the day

Still it was basically tough shit, you asked for it with those plates, that car and we all have to follow the same rules so deal with it..

Im not really that upset about it as i expected as much but she did reduce the fine somewhat so with court costs i pay about the same as the original ticket would have cost me $265.

RESULT!

anyway heres my notes from the day, feel free to skip them etc

22^nd may 2012 Downing centre local court

First defendant

15 second burnout near taylor square recorded on video by oncoming highway patrol vehicle

Lawyer working pro bono for mid eastern defefendant / plead on ground of professional driver who has done an advanced driving course. Says car is now off road for defects and is very cash strapped, two mortgages, wanting to start family.

Car used to be drag car, second time driven only so not used to it.

Judge not sympathetic at all, believe fine was reduced somewhat to 330

Plea for section 10 big time by his mate lawyer

Refused with Judge judy style terseness

*

2^nd defendant

Female driving 76 in roadworks (cross city tunnel entering from edgecliff), normally 80 zone. First offence

Plea for section ten refused but judge reduced suspension from 3 months to 6 weeks only

3^rd

Young male plea for section 10 for doing 129 while on Ps

Excuse was overtaking to avoid dangerous driver, radar trap just as he got past.

Suspension reduced to 6 weeks (3 months already served for demerits, contesting 3 month speed suspension)

4^th

Littering fine for a few hundred bucks

Dismissed

5^th

Bipolar L plater done for not displaying plates on motorbike

Was also carrying passenger

Wants section 10 refused, court costs of $81 no fines. Conviction and demerits applied

Traffic matters do not take mental illness into account, driver has poor history and shook her head at how many pages the RTA fact sheet was.

Needs to see parents who are in nursing home, already 6k n fines etc but tough luck buddy

6^th\

Park in school zone, $2000 fine

Littering for dropping ticket (slammed the wet ticket into rangers chest- it fell), another fine!

Was raining, sick kids etc

Older single eastern suburbs mum with a hysterical demeanor was upset that ticket inspector ‘ordered her to pick up ticket or cop a fine’. Couldnt believe how 'rude' he was.

Rants about parking zone being there, judge tells her to take it up with council

$200 fror each ticket $160 in court costs

7^th

No parking fine in front of school

Claims sign is obscured, school agrees to fix signage

Max fine is $2200 but the offender is on carers pension. $300 plus court costs

his ticket had been only $260 lol.

8^th

Admitting to red light, did traffic offenders program. Rant about being shocked by stories of crashes and beating chest about how good he is for not doing a stat dec or sending in cheque with more than the amount on it.

Court fine could be $2000

but a section 10 is given, no points or fine, $81

9^th

Postal worker with chinese interpreter charged with double parking

Dismissed as postal vehicles are allowed to double park. ..but wait, prosecutor says NSW legislation trumps the Australian legislation in this case...this goes back and forth all day with new interpretations of the law needed by the judge from half a dozen different experts.

eventually its found it is an offence but he is given a section 10 anyway.

10th

elderly white dude driving in bus lane.

Pleading for reduced fine which he got $150

11

Red light camera

Ambulance coming up behind him and moved aside to let it past stting off camera

Fine reduced to $200

12

Old dude with no seatbelt because his wife had called him with ‘distressing news’ reduced to $150

13

Chinese dude sells smokes to 16yr old girl, cops 2.5k fine instead of possible 11k

14th case

73yr old doing 50 in school zone, long list of speeding fines behind him. Fine stands.

15th

Loading zone, clearway and clearway tows and tickets for guy who kept parking in the city and disappearing for weeks, no signs warning of impending zone changes.fines withdrawn, just 81 bucks court cost for each ticket

16th

Stopping in hospital car park emergency vehicle zone for most of night, went to maccas and noticed ticket on return. Fine waived section 10 as he hadn't 'noticed' the sign

17th

Truck flies through red light as fully commited anyway. Fine stands including costs.

18

Stop zone tickets for taxi driver in city, one reduced and one waived, judge sympathises with demands of his passengers but says he needs to obey the rules. pffft.

19

young student operating heavy vehicle gets into bus lane a little early to make a left, cops camera ticket. Section 10

20

Red light camera in pyrmont

Pulled over to give wife medicine, was aware of camera but wanted to get out of traffic to administer her meds etc section 10 and dismissed

ok phew, thats it

each case took an average of 20 mins or so to get through so including all the adjournments and other guff it was a long day. Will go back for more if there is interest though

[fatz]

got a new number plate yet?

[oweban]

jesus some of those people are full of shit

[N1GTR]

Number 11 is a pretty shit go, that is, if he was telling the truth

[a20089]

So what is the law about open containers of booze?

[Liz]

Number 11 is a pretty shit go, that is, if he was telling the truth

particulary given #16

[hamiltonau]

hmm some actual replies, i will have to go back on friday.

I havent listed my plates yet as im not sure as to the best website to sell them on and i actually havent been hassled since January so will see how i go, one more big reaming by the cops for no apparent reason other than having admittedly stupid plates and i will get more motivated though. I could get all free speechy but its a bit like when the chaser boys were wandering into convenience stores with pantyhose on their head for lulz and people were freaking out, of course your allowed to do it..but your kind of asking for it.

As for 11, the guy seemed genuine so im not sure why she didnt give him much of a go regarding the ambulance moving him out of the way, the ticket was reduced but i would have thought a section 10 the fairer option.

16 was waived due to his long sob story about taking his wife there and being too stressed about her condition to be worried about some as quote 'trivial as parking' Also he was a little pathetic in his tracksuit pants, wrinkled suit jacket and crazy Einstein hair. Unemployed, bi polar etc etc, guess she just felt sorry for him.

[FordyR31]

Not aloud any unslealed alcohol in the car, even if its a bottle u had drunk the night before and taking it home for next weekend. It should be against the law for leaving some in the bottle. Court sucks. Spent days and possibly weeks in court.... Escorting offenders not coz I have done anything wrong. Hate it still. Don't worry i'm not a cop just had other jobs in the past.

[hamiltonau]

oh and the open container thing, not looked it up but the charge was 'driving while drinking long neck' so its probably more that your not allowed to physically consume alcohol while operating a motor vehicle..

The thing was i was only picking it up out of the centre console cup holder while at the lights to see how much was left in the bottle, car was not moving, bored look around and hey i didnt know that was there kind of thing.

Next minute im being waved over and told i had been seen 'drinking beer' and to wait for an RBT unit etc etc, sat around blocking a busy bus lane in peak hour for over 45mins while they dealt with me and eventually drove off with nothing but that ticket. Was a little mad at the ridiculousness of it all hence ticking the court option box.

So glad i did

[hamiltonau]

Not aloud any unslealed alcohol in the car, even if its a bottle u had drunk the night before and taking it home for next weekend. It should be against the law for leaving some in the bottle.

LOL true that re leaving some to become undrinkable dregs, definitely a crime. In my defense your honour..it WAS fairly crap light beer!

[FordyR31]

In ur sig it says alcohol IS the answer... Im guessing this wasnt ur defence.

[Shell]

Picking shit up and waving it around is never a good idea, whether it's alcohol, your mobile, a toy gun, anything that they will jump on really. Just be discreet and use common sense! Especially if you're known to the cops as you are Pat. And your plates just make you even easier to stand out like dogs balls.

Agree with number 11... harsh! Surely the ambos would be able to back up his story! Even if they don't remember him personally but the job they were on and the time they went through the lights would match!

[GTR-N1]

Thanks Patty for giving us a snapshot into a day with that judge.

I agree with Steve-0, Liz and Shell about #11.

Can that driver appeal? I would on principle.

Bugger!

[hamiltonau]

No probs terry, guess peoples attention spans are a little longer in this section of SAU, if I tried it in the wasteland it would just got spammed with "TL;DR" and pics of girls in bikinis.

Can't argue with your logic shell, got the same message over on performance forums but with much more swearing and name calling lol. Drive pretty carefully around town as they will stop you for the slightest little thing these days, lesson learned!

[luke gtr]

in regards to #11, wouldnt they have seen the ambo go through and get pinched also?

should be able to get a copy of the pic and use that as defence.

[hamiltonau]

Ambo ended up stopping at a house just before the intersection so he didnt even need to get out of the way!

he would have had no idea though so still a little unfair, im guessing traffic offences that incure demerits are a little more serious than parking fines hence you see less of them dismissed. He was pleading guilty with explanation so no real point in appealing..like most people who get all full of bluster and hot air it all goes away pretty quick on the day.

Its an intimidating environment and he like me just meekly accepted the verdict, actually THANKING the judge before scuttling back out in the relative safety outside..

[oweban]

actually THANKING the judge before scuttling back out in the relative safety outside..

And therein lies the crux; even if you don't get the result you wanted, there's no harm in being polite and thanking them for listening and their time. What goes around comes around!

[hamiltonau]

yeah theres no point getting huffy anyway, its not like a tantrum would do you any good, sometimes you just have to take your lumps no matter how unfair it seems.

oh and i hate spotting bad grammer in my posts when its too late to edit/fix it!

[Liz]

You haven't been hassled since January because you haven't had a licence since january

[GTR-N1]

Ambo ended up stopping at a house just before the intersection so he didnt even need to get out of the way!

he would have had no idea though so still a little unfair, im guessing traffic offences that incure demerits are a little more serious than parking fines hence you see less of them dismissed. He was pleading guilty with explanation so no real point in appealing....

He must have been defending himself then, because a traffic lawyer would I think have advised him to plead "Innocent" and then explain > case dismissed

Now that he's pleaded "Guilty" and then tried to explain > still cops a penalty > an appeal would only lessen the severity of sentence

Poor bugger.