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That was surprisingly painless
Traffic Court, that is.
I arrived early, and waited with a couple dozen other people for their turn with the clerk-magistrate. Traffic Court is held in a courtroom, but the woman who conducted it was not a judge, and the proceedings were held at a small table in the well of the courtroom. The state police were represented by a young trooper who had a sheaf of traffic citations in his hand, and the people challenging their tickets sat in the spectators' section.
Most of the cases were routine, but there were a couple of interesting ones:
- a woman who freely admitted that she'd been speeding but challenged her car being unregistered.
- a well dressed gentleman from Connecticut whose testimony was so incoherent that the clerk-magistrate found him responsible at least partially because she couldn't understand what he was talking about.
- a social worker from Springfield who attempted to claim, simultaneously, that she was forced over the speed limit by a statie at the same time she was attempting to pass a truck to make her exit.
- And my favorite, a fellow from New York whose driver's license had been lost. He'd reported it lost, gotten a new license, and was stunned six months later to receive a speeding citation from Connecticut and a driving-without-seatbelt citation from Massachusetts. The New York RMV told him that to clear his name, he'd have to challenge both tickets in person, so he made his first trip to Massachusetts to go to traffic court for a seatbelt violation.
The clerk-magistrate was *very* concerned, especially since the description on the citation clearly did not refer to the same person (the citation said the driver was black, while he was actually a light skinned Hispanic and had a noticeable accent). She found him not responsible and urged him, in the strongest possible terms, to go back to New York, get a new license with a new number, and see if there's anything else odd on his record since it seems that he's become the victim of identity theft. The poor fellow nodded, thanked her, and left, and I hope he follows through since whomever has his old license has been merrily breaking traffic laws in at least two states.
As for me...I was, of course, called next to last :p. I got down into the well, sat down, and the statie started to read off my citation:
"On January 3, 2007..."
He stopped and said, "That must be a typo." The clerk magistrate's eyebrows went up, and she asked the statie for the original ticket. It clearly said the traffic stop had taken place on January 3, 2007, not 2008!
The magistrate then asked me if I'd been pulled over on January 3, 2007. I said no, and that I wasn't sure where I was or what I was doing. She then lectured the statie on how proper documentation was essential even though it wasn't his case, dismissed the ticket, and told me to watch my speed. I said I would, thanked her, and left.
I'm shocked at how close I came to simply paying the fine and going on from there - I hadn't noticed the wrong date on the ticket, and one of the main reasons I'd challenged was because the statie who pulled me over had ignored my constant assertions that I was hard of hearing and couldn't understand what he was saying. I had no idea that the wrong date invalidated the ticket, and I am setting my cruise control from now on when traveling on that stretch of highway, yes indeedie. I ducked a bullet and learned my lesson!
In other news, I celebrated my good fortune by getting a haircut ($10 to have five inches of split ends chopped off), then came home in a sleet storm to prepare for my dentist's appointment at 3:30. Obviously I didn't go to work, and if asked, I will simply tell them that court ran later than expected and it was sleeting when I got out (all true), and that I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get to Springfield. If they don't like it, well, *I* didn't choose either the court date or to have a tooth go bad on me, and I was not the one who signed off on the leave request.
*rolls eyes*
And how is your day going, dear flist?
I arrived early, and waited with a couple dozen other people for their turn with the clerk-magistrate. Traffic Court is held in a courtroom, but the woman who conducted it was not a judge, and the proceedings were held at a small table in the well of the courtroom. The state police were represented by a young trooper who had a sheaf of traffic citations in his hand, and the people challenging their tickets sat in the spectators' section.
Most of the cases were routine, but there were a couple of interesting ones:
- a woman who freely admitted that she'd been speeding but challenged her car being unregistered.
- a well dressed gentleman from Connecticut whose testimony was so incoherent that the clerk-magistrate found him responsible at least partially because she couldn't understand what he was talking about.
- a social worker from Springfield who attempted to claim, simultaneously, that she was forced over the speed limit by a statie at the same time she was attempting to pass a truck to make her exit.
- And my favorite, a fellow from New York whose driver's license had been lost. He'd reported it lost, gotten a new license, and was stunned six months later to receive a speeding citation from Connecticut and a driving-without-seatbelt citation from Massachusetts. The New York RMV told him that to clear his name, he'd have to challenge both tickets in person, so he made his first trip to Massachusetts to go to traffic court for a seatbelt violation.
The clerk-magistrate was *very* concerned, especially since the description on the citation clearly did not refer to the same person (the citation said the driver was black, while he was actually a light skinned Hispanic and had a noticeable accent). She found him not responsible and urged him, in the strongest possible terms, to go back to New York, get a new license with a new number, and see if there's anything else odd on his record since it seems that he's become the victim of identity theft. The poor fellow nodded, thanked her, and left, and I hope he follows through since whomever has his old license has been merrily breaking traffic laws in at least two states.
As for me...I was, of course, called next to last :p. I got down into the well, sat down, and the statie started to read off my citation:
"On January 3, 2007..."
He stopped and said, "That must be a typo." The clerk magistrate's eyebrows went up, and she asked the statie for the original ticket. It clearly said the traffic stop had taken place on January 3, 2007, not 2008!
The magistrate then asked me if I'd been pulled over on January 3, 2007. I said no, and that I wasn't sure where I was or what I was doing. She then lectured the statie on how proper documentation was essential even though it wasn't his case, dismissed the ticket, and told me to watch my speed. I said I would, thanked her, and left.
I'm shocked at how close I came to simply paying the fine and going on from there - I hadn't noticed the wrong date on the ticket, and one of the main reasons I'd challenged was because the statie who pulled me over had ignored my constant assertions that I was hard of hearing and couldn't understand what he was saying. I had no idea that the wrong date invalidated the ticket, and I am setting my cruise control from now on when traveling on that stretch of highway, yes indeedie. I ducked a bullet and learned my lesson!
In other news, I celebrated my good fortune by getting a haircut ($10 to have five inches of split ends chopped off), then came home in a sleet storm to prepare for my dentist's appointment at 3:30. Obviously I didn't go to work, and if asked, I will simply tell them that court ran later than expected and it was sleeting when I got out (all true), and that I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get to Springfield. If they don't like it, well, *I* didn't choose either the court date or to have a tooth go bad on me, and I was not the one who signed off on the leave request.
*rolls eyes*
And how is your day going, dear flist?