Tsle

I don't count a reduction as "getting off" in any way, because you still get points and surcharges.

BroncoOne

Untrue. I never saw the mag before in my life.

I am an attorney, though. It was pretty clear that i would go on to the next level, but I was unfailingly friendly and polite.

If you go in with an edge, they are going to stick it to you. Better to be nice. If there's a next time, i may even bring donuts and a Box of Joe from Dunkin'

RedBlackYellow

all your MA magistrate tickets are belong to me.

Tsle

Someone set us up the ticket!

Mirror|rorriM

There are other costs here besides the salary of the magistrate.

I think the reason you always lose is that you always go in with an attitude.

That, and it sounds like you have a lot of experience with tickets...

Suffolk

My question is does the Commonwealth HAVE to pay the $20 to appeal like we do?
-Scott by BOSTON

Suffolk

I find the Clerks a watse of time.

Its too easy to find you responsible from reading the citation.

The clerk will only let you off if you have an improperly filled out ticket, their in a good mood, or if you can rebut the ticket well and convincingly.

NMA.org (mentioned later in this thread)
www.tipmra.com (trial by ambush)

Appeal:
If the officer doesn't show..........you win.

If all the boxes aren't filled out correctly or its missing one of the "nine elements" (or so) needed to procedurally convinct you and you challenge it you can win.

Request the officers notes from the back of the ticket.
Subpoena or use the Freedom of Info act to get your info about the case.

RADAR:
The Commonwealth mandates the each unit in service be calibrated and checked by an independant facility to verify the certification of said unit.
CERTIFICATION - request it for the unit. It should be valid (within a year prior to the date you get tagged) DOn't be surprised if they don't have it.........Ask for a dismissal on non calibrated equipment. ALSO be wary of a new certificate (dated after your ticket) specifically get the previous to your ticket one or ask for a dismissal.

Ask for the tuning forks, their certification too.

The make model and other info relating to the unit itsself.

One obscure brand had a recall about iginiton noise causing 70 MPH reading from the handheld guns......
Request to have the radar unit in court the day of your case.

Ask for the daily log of the unit.

The officers certification on that type of equipment, even on that specific model.
I could go on and on............

LASER: all of the above except there are no tuning forks and IMHO NO WAY to calibrate or test the unit while in field service. (unless they measure a sign by tape measure and then refer to that point time and time again).

They love the laser and tell you its so infalible. FAR from. Sure it pinpoints but the state of NJ won't let them use it over 1000 ft.

There's a reason.
The beam and sight may not match.
The beam is square in a lot of units.
It can reflect from ANY object in the beams path at any distance (unless a "filter" is used)

Check out your hood. sloped right?
So which point is the reflection from? front or back?

Headlight or hood?

These guns DO NOT work like radar to determine speed.
It calculates speed by measuring the difference in the reflected light pulses. This is a change of distance and time. Not the doppler shift of an electrical signal like radar.

Soooo many problems with these things.

The Commonwealth doesn't seem to give out ANY info on these things. Its like their BIG SECRET.
So its time to get this info out in the public so we can benefit from an understanding of these things and keep everyone honest.

E-mail me for a sample letter and owners/operators' manuals for these things...

I'm no attorney, but I own 5 of these doppler radar units and can show anyone all kinds of errors in their use. I know quite a bit of what they don't want us to know.
Its the situation where they are used that is different each time they use the units. Far too many outside factors to make a standard application each time.

Tsle

attitude. Also, if the money paid from fines goes, either partially or fully into the budget from which the magistrates are paid, one way or another, that DOES create an incentive for them to find people responsible- Even if there are also other sources of state funding that contibute to that budget, the pressure, no matter how indirect, on the magistrate is to help increase the budget from which they will be paid- If not necessarily to try to increase their own salary, then to try to keep it from being reduced by placing greater pressure on state funding which can be reduced by legislators.

Also, if you intend to contradict someone, whether or not you're right (and perhaps you are), perhaps you could at least do us all the courtesy of actually explaining your point, rather than just saying "no, you're wrong, you have an attitude." For example, your statement that "there are other costs here than the salary of the magistrate": Certainly that's true- If all of the ticket money went to pay the magistrate, the system would be more or less pointless. But what is your point when you say that, and how exactly does it relate to whether or not magistrates have some sort of financial incentive to find people responsible?

And, while you may think I have an attitude problem, I find your approach to all of this to be rather naive- The system is quite clearly designed to prevent people from fighting tickets, and is very specifically designed to discourage successful appeals. If you think it is a fair system- Especially on the magistrate level- you're only deluding yourself.