For those who have ever been wronged by the law

[911ctS]

If the law (enforcement that is) has ever been injust to you, then you might enjoy my story. I was going to post it sooner but wanted everything to be solidified before I did. Anyway here it goes...

On the night of June 6th me and a friend of mine were driving his white subaru (1986) home from another friends house. I being the sober driver that night had 2 beers between 9 and 10 pm. We then remained at the house until 2:15 am that night, when I had had enough I rounded up the troops and we departed from there. I then drove one friend home who lives about 3 mi. away and then headed back towards Morro Bay where we live, about 6 mi. away. The entire mission was going great, all I wanted was to go to bed. Then when I was about 2 blocks from home, coming up over a small grade and I see a city patrol car about to pull out in front of me from a side street. The first thing I do is check my speedo and its ok im doin 23 in a 25. Then the officer comes to an abrupt stop and proceeds to let me go by. She then follows in behind me and paces me up the hill for the last block and a half before I turn into my own driveway. I pull all the way up the driveway to the garage and turn off the car, when out of nowhere she turns on all her lights, including the spotlight right in our faces. Out of curiosity and confidence that I was driving PERFECT I exit the vehicle and began to approach the patrol car. She says nothing (still in the car) until I get about 6 ft. from her window when she all the sudden says "I smell alcohol on your breath" and "Going a little fast were we". As if she was reading it off a checklist or something. I respond by saying "Well I was doing the speed limit and yes I had 2 beers between 9 and 10". Then she says shes just gonna give me some tests before she lets me go inside. So I say OK and proceed with the FST's. This is where the BS starts to go down. She said I failed all the tests given and that they want me to go down to the station for a breath test. I then realize they are being very unreasonable, I was absolutely sober and alert as one can get. Since I have little trust/faith in out local P.D. I then exercise my right to the blood test. Wow did their demeanor change after that, like I had offended them in a personal way or something. They searched the whole car, found nothing! They then took be to have blood taken and booked my in the county jail where, to my suprise, I spent the rest of the night. Not a fun experience!! let me tell you.

Yada, Yada, yada, time goes by waiting for the blood results. 20 days to be exact. Meanwhile I have no license, they took it. Ok heres the good part... I get the results back and they are .02 BAC, the legal limit here in CA is .08. Its pretty hard to fail every FST and have a STRONG smell of alcohol on your breath with a .02 BAC. The officers credability just went to hell. Obviously she needs more training, or a new job.

Court trial on June 30th - I go into court where the DA pretty much laughs at the infraction, throws it out, but adds in a speeding ticket. A 35 in a 25. But I was only going 23 in the 25. The system is trying to get money out of me for all the $$$ the incompedent cop wasted from the begining. Well I dont like any part of this. The bottom line is that the dishonest cop lied in order to check me out for a DUI that night. So I then waste 2 more court appearances in pleading not guilty to the speed infraction. I could have gone to traffic school and had it wiped clean for $135, but thats still injust and wrong. So I go and hire a lawyer for $750 to defend my case. To make a long story short, he puts the cop on the stand and well... pretty much makes her look like the fool she is. Her credability was destroyed and he even poisoned the well for her in the future.

A great day in court it was, very educational. What was wrong and injust was made right again and thats what matters. I will always have a bitter taste in my mouth after this matter but at least it ended with good principle. I didn't give the system a damn dime.

And as Mastercard would put it:

A night in jail with a bunch of real criminals = mentally disturbing

A lawyer to fight the speeding ticket = 750 dollars

Watching that officer look like an uneducated fool in front of a court of law = PRICELESS


Side Note: Im not directing my cop-hater attitude towards cops in general. Just this one in particular. I have the most respect for all cops untill they prove me wrong individually.

[Moses]

Congratulations! Your $750 helps all of us.

Related story; A local anesthesiologist was retiring. We threw him a huge party at a local bar/restaurant. It was loud and fun. The party was all doctors and nurses. You can always tell who's on call because we NEVER drink when we are on call. One of my friends (a general surgeon) stopped by at about 9pm to say hello. He was on trauma call so he had NOTHING to drink. He left just before 10pm. As he pulled out of his parking space, the red lights started flashing. He told the officer he had not been drinking. The officer responded, "don't give me that garbage. I saw you leave the bar."

They had a breathalyser machine in the car. His reading: 0.00% The officer insisted on a roadside sobriety test anyway. This is a very public road in a small town and I have no doubt that several of his patients saw him doing the roadside sobriety test with the lights flashing. Nice.

[Moneyguy1]

I once sat on a committee interviewing potential police cadets. Standard question was "Why do you want to be a police officer?"

One candidate answered: "So I can wear a gun and tell people what to do".

Needless to say, that individual did not make the cut.

Other answers were equally hilarious. One, when found that his record contained a misdemeanor offense said "Why should that make a difference?"

Some are good and dedicated; a few fall through the cracks.

[Moses]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Other answers were equally hilarious. One, when found that his record contained a misdemeanor offense said "Why should that make a difference?"

Years ago the Oakland, California police department dropped the "no prior felony convictions" requirement for their police academy. Don't know if it's still that way. I doubt it.

[kach22i]

Originally posted by 911ctS
where, to my suprise, I spent the rest of the night. Not a fun experience!! let me tell you.

Yada, Yada, yada, time goes by waiting for the blood results. 20 days to be exact. Meanwhile I have no license, they took it.

1. You spent the night in Jail.

2. Took your blood and probably have your DNA on file for life.

3. No driver's license for 20 days.

4. They should be paying you, are you a few shades darker than average? You might have a case.

Alright, I have had a few run-in's with the law. I was innocent each and every time. Two cases were dismissed, one went to a much lesser offense just to get me out of there, and the last one I gave a explaination to the magistrate. The cop (real young guy) lied in court. I had enough, and did not have the time to deal with it, so I paid the fine. The court did not register my payment in the computer and revoked my license a year later without warning. I got it reinstated the same day via the fax machine.

I know a few cops, it's 50/50 if they are good and bad.

I will never forget as a kid, the time a cop showing off to another cop. he said watch this as I walked by after playing a baseball game (his idea of work was watching us play), he pulled his gun out and put it to my face. I told him, I am leaving now, you stay here I will come back with my dad. I went home just a few block away, my dad was working a double at the factory, my mom did not care.

The cop vanshished from our neighborhood after that. Rumor had it he pulled a gun on another kid at the pool, and there were more people around this time. It was said he made the local motorcycle gangs list. The bikers don't let that kind of stuff happen to kids.

Bikers are pretty cool people when you are a kid, I'll say that much for them.

[Moneyguy1]

Moses

That some jurisdiction in California would do that does not surprise me.

I suppose their logic would be along the lines of:

"It takes a thief to catch a thief".

Hey..it worked in an old television show!!!

[Moses]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Moses

That some jurisdiction in California would do that does not surprise me.

I suppose their logic would be along the lines of:

"It takes a thief to catch a thief".

Hey..it worked in an old television show!!!

Don't want to be controversial, but it was an effort to increase the departments racial diversity. My dad was on the OPD for 28 years. I think the policy was dropped pretty quickly as the pool of minority candidates grew.

[911ctS]

Thanks for the support guys. That night I was truely violated and I will never forget it. At least my faith in our court system isn't totally diminished. However, it is a good ole boys club though. Amazing how the DA's, public defenders, and private lawyers are all so in kahoots with eachother. Very educational experience overall.

I really wouldn't mind more of our tax dollars being dedicated to recruiting very respectable and qualified officers of the law. If it were more of a highly paid/respectful (I mean that w/ respect) position then maybe the quality of individuals they attrack would be of higher caliber.

[jrdavid68]

Two totally different worlds… I grew up in a small town in Iowa - a two-cop town, one on duty at a time. I washed dishes/cooked in a restaurant all through Junior High and High School. The Chief of Police was really good friends with the owner of the restaurant and we also became friends.

I consider him to be one of the most important mentors in my life. I also remember him pulling me over more than once for various reasons and always letting me go with a warning even when it was obvious that I had been drinking – on one of those occasions I was instructed to go straight home, which I did and he followed to make sure.

Officer Bill Austin – may he R.I.P.

[Burnin' oil]

Originally posted by 911ctS
I respond by saying "Well I was doing the speed limit and yes I had 2 beers between 9 and 10".

I have always had problems with the two beers between the ninth and the tenth, but after that I seem to do okay

[kach22i]

A guy I used to work with said he once bought a six pack and cracked one open in the car. It was a short ride from the party store to his house, he figured a half a beer on a hot day.........what the heck. The car in front of him slamed the brakes, the beer with just two sips taken out of it, spilled all over his lap, on his shirt and pants. Traffic got all backed up because the two cars in front of him crashed, when the cop came up to his car to see if he was alright, the whole car (and him) reaked of beer. The cop counted the bottles, looked him over real good and said don't ever be so stupid again. Had you hit the car in front of you, or the car behind you hit you, you would be spending the night in jail.

[JavaBrewer]

A guy I knew was driving home - drunk. He was waiting for a red light when a speeding car rear ended him, pushed him into the intersection to contact yet another car. Lots of injuries and damage, guess who was ultimately at fault? Yep, the drunk guy waiting for the green signal. The only way it would have worked out 'better' for him was if someone else in the accident had also been drinking.

With the amount of people killed by drunk drivers everyday I have no issues with that policy.

Back on thread - my wife, then a cocktail waitress, was going home after her shift late at night. SD officer pulls her over and after questioning her for 10 minutes (no warning of possible infraction) asks for a date. She says no. He proceeds to write her up for not stopping at a red light. She goes to court and fights ticket. Officer does not show to court so new date is selected. Finally Judge sides with officer's story. Wife responds with "Well that doesn't suprise me at all. For all I know you two probably play golf together because you're as corrupt as he his (pointing to officer). Contempt of court and failure to stop at right light. That will be $750, you can pay on the way out.

Wronged by the law happens to everyone at least once in their lifetime. Move on, nothing to see here.

[Moneyguy1]

Moses..

We were all for racial diversity. We had a commitee for recruitment for fire/police and I was the only caucasian on it, appointed by the (black) Mayor. We did everything we could to attract quality minority candidates including "banding" of scores (all scores within a preset range were equal, so the smart guy with 100% and another with, say, 95% were equal and the choice could be made on ethnicity or some other factor). We had physical training workshops, remedial reding/comprehension classes for exam preparation. We even wound up with some very excellent females qualified for positions as firefighter which I am certain you will agree is a very physical and demanding profession.

There are a lot of qualified individuals out there of every ethnic stripe. Given the proper motivation, they will come forward without having to lower the standards to include individuals with police records.

With all the efforts we put down, the program was at least a marginal success.

There were other longer range problems. Given this was a northeastern city with budgetary problems, if there were cutbacks, last in-first out (Civil Service law), negating some of the gains.

Win a few, lose a few......

[Moses]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
Moses..

We were all for racial diversity. We had a commitee for recruitment for fire/police and I was the only caucasian on it, appointed by the (black) Mayor. We did everything we could to attract quality minority candidates including "banding" of scores (all scores within a preset range were equal, so the smart guy with 100% and another with, say, 95% were equal and the choice could be made on ethnicity or some other factor). We had physical training workshops, remedial reding/comprehension classes for exam preparation. We even wound up with some very excellent females qualified for positions as firefighter which I am certain you will agree is a very physical and demanding profession.

There are a lot of qualified individuals out there of every ethnic stripe. Given the proper motivation, they will come forward without having to lower the standards to include individuals with police records.

With all the efforts we put down, the program was at least a marginal success.

There were other longer range problems. Given this was a northeastern city with budgetary problems, if there were cutbacks, last in-first out (Civil Service law), negating some of the gains.

Win a few, lose a few......

I suspect that Oaklands scramble to recruit minorities in the 70's was a response to political pressure with a largely white police force in a largely black city. As time passed, the pool of qualified minorities expanded and it is my understanding that today Oakland has very rigid standards and maintains a diverse police force.

[Adam]

Originally posted by dmoolenaar:
She goes to court and fights ticket. Officer does not show to court so new date is selected.

If that happened here, the whole case would be thrown out!

[SteveStromberg]

Sue Her in small Claims court for the money you spent on the Lawyer.
If she doesnt appear you win ,If the judge dismisses the case you still win by making her appear in court .

[kach22i]

Originally posted by SteveStromberg
Sue Her in small Claims court for the money you spent on the Lawyer.
If she doesnt appear you win ,If the judge dismisses the case you still win by making her appear in court .

Interesting homepage you have there, don't know what to make of it just yet.

http://www.americanpatrol.com/

I agree with your above suggestion, small claims in Michigan recently went from $3,000 to $6,000 cap I believe.