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Night traffic court provides all kinds of surprises
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007 |
ST. PETERSBURG – Night traffic court brings together a great many people, from lawyers to cops to the violators themselves.
Watching the procession of defendants one recent evening was an education. Once known as the Pinellas County court system’s South County Branch Office, the Tyrone Branch Office on 66th Street in St. Petersburg handles everything from traffic tickets to criminal cases.
Internet traffic ticket sites falsely advise people on ways to beat tickets. And even the best radar detector doesn’t stop vascar, lidar, laser or pacing enforcement.
The public would be surprised at how often police officers go out of their way to help the very people they ticket.
Most people receiving a summons, are just every-day folks who got caught running a red light or driving faster than the limit. Some show up in court armed with file folders filled with data.
Very few people challenge tickets to be spiteful or to make a police officer look bad in court. Most just don’t want their insurance rates raised.
Some, however, like the woman who claimed she was a former commissioner of a barrier island beach community, tried to push her weight around. She even called the Pinellas County deputy who gave her a ticket for not heeding to a no turn on red sign a “liar.”
The woman boasted about all her various political positions and achievements that she said included bringing the sheriff’s office to her beach community. She ticked off her public service credentials. She then went on to say that she went right to the sheriff’s office the day she received the summons and sought out the deputy’s commander.
In the end the magistrate was not impressed. He congratulated the woman for her many years of public service and then found her guilty as charged. She was not happy.
In another case a woman stopped in Belleair for speeding testified that a special “SPG unit” was operating on her car when she was stopped. She claimed that she was “testing” the mechanics of the vehicle and provided paperwork to show that her vehicle’s average speed that day was about 17 mph.
The officer prevailed and the woman walked out in a huff.
In several instances police officers themselves requested that charges be dismissed. In another instance a woman ticketed for speeding by a Pinellas Park police officer was assisted by a St. Petersburg police officer.
The Spanish-speaking policeman volunteered to be the woman’s interpreter. In the end she was found guilty and fined. She pleaded for time to come up with the money. Both officers and the magistrate went above and beyond to allow the woman to pay off some of the fine by working community service.
Later that evening that same St. Petersburg officer testified against another defendant he’d ticketed for speeding. The violator’s claim that the speedometer on his car wasn’t working properly didn’t wash. He was found guilty.
Cops don’t necessarily get a pleasure out of ticketing a motorist. Often they just issue a verbal or written warning. Just recently the Pinellas Park Beacon received a letter from a woman who publicly thanked an officer for giving her a break. It happens all the time.
“We would rather educate an individual than make him pay a fine,” one Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy said.
It’s hard to beat a speeding ticket because of all the technology. Police officers must present calibration and certification paperwork for their radar units and themselves. The officer must explain to a defendant in open court the workings of the unit.
“We’re human and make mistakes, too,” one officer said. “We take that into consideration every time we stop a car.”
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Article published on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007
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