I'm new to the forum and I am 18 years old. I am a low-income student attending community college. I have previously gotten the same citation for speed contest not too long ago on February 18, 2010. My court case for that is not over yet. It's still ongoing and I am at the final stages for that case which is hopefully going to end on June 28, 2010. On that very day of February 18, 2010, I have also gotten a citation for speeding, doing 68mph in a 35mph zone. Yes, this one is really bad.
Yesterday, I was in the city of San Gabriel, CA. Me and my cousin (my cousin drove his own car) were on our way to a tea place not too far north. I spot a modded 2003-2007 Honda Accord, thought nothing of it. I normally strolled by him on the right. He switched lanes and decides to tailgate me and when we finally come to a complete stop during a red light, he decides to rev his car several times at me. So then when the light turns green, I take off a bit to get away from him and I accelerated to about 40mph (not under full throttle, my tires weren't spinning or peeling out). The posted limit was 35mph so I was in the safe zone. Then the guy in the Accord attempts to chase me down and starts to rev it again. At this time, I am in the left lane and he is right behind me. I continue going at a constant speed of 40mph and he is still right on my rear. The driver of the Accord seems arritated and swings his car to the right and passes me and then cuts right back in front of me in my lane. I flash my high beams and hazard lights to tell the guy that I don't want any trouble and to get off my rear. I don't even know the guy. I guess that's when the cops saw that and decided it was time to pull me over.
When the officer pulls me over, he drives his car side by side with me, and tells me to go chase down my "friend". I was just in shock.. I thought it was the officer's job to go hunt and chase down the other driver. I did what I was told, but I went slow so I made sure I didn't break another law while doing it (the cops were following right behind me as I was searching for the Accord). But, it was too late, the Accord got away and the officer decides to just pull me over. Two other patrol cars come up. They didn't even bother with the Accord. It seemed like as long as they caught one person, they were fine with it. They put in no effort to go and search for the Accord.
The usual went down. They asked for my license and registration. I told them that I have been cited for the same thing and I attempted to show them my ongoing ticket. The officer (who was a young white male) had some bad attitude. He simply said "I don't care about your other ticket." So I went on and gave him my documents. The officer said he was going to cite me for speed contest. He said me and the other guy were lined up and we took off at the same time when there was not even ONCE a time when we got the chance to even line up at a stop or light. There was alot of traffic on the road at the time and the Accord was pretty much in front of me the whole time. The officer also claimed that I was doing 55mph in a 35mph zone but I knew he was bluffing. I was checking my spedometer constantly so I wouldn't go over the limit no matter how much the Accord wanted to pressure me into racing him. The officer did not even radar me, and if he did, he didn't show me his radar gun. Lastly, he didn't even cite me for speeding on the ticket, so I know he was just saying that so I could agree to speeding so that he could cite me for it.
The officers didn't impount my car cause my sister had a valid driver's license and she drove the car home. But I know this is unfair. I didn't do anything wrong. I was simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The hazardous lights was what caught the cops attention (cause I guess he was already watching what we were doing by then). But, it was just a signal to the other driver to slow down and to get off of my rear. I guess the officer's first intention was that I wanted the guy in the Accord to line up with me.
Keep in mind, my cousin who has been following me the whole way to our destination, has seen the whole thing happen. His girlfriend was also in the car. My sister and my other cousin was in my car too. So I pretty much have lots of witnesses.
So what do you guys think of this? I know it's pretty bad already. For my first case.. they are looking to drop the misdemeanor into an infraction. I already hired a lawyer for that case. But, how am I gonna fork out another 3k for another lawyer? I know I won't win this case without a lawyer. But what are other alternatives that I can do to lessen the charge? What are my chances of getting a job? And how many points on my record am I looking at?
Here's some additional information:
- Weather was cold
- Road was dry
- Traffic was medium
My life is such at a standstill..
Yesterday, I was in the city of San Gabriel, CA. Me and my cousin (my cousin drove his own car) were on our way to a tea place not too far north. I spot a modded 2003-2007 Honda Accord, thought nothing of it. I normally strolled by him on the right. He switched lanes and decides to tailgate me and when we finally come to a complete stop during a red light, he decides to rev his car several times at me. So then when the light turns green, I take off a bit to get away from him and I accelerated to about 40mph (not under full throttle, my tires weren't spinning or peeling out). The posted limit was 35mph so I was in the safe zone. Then the guy in the Accord attempts to chase me down and starts to rev it again. At this time, I am in the left lane and he is right behind me. I continue going at a constant speed of 40mph and he is still right on my rear. The driver of the Accord seems arritated and swings his car to the right and passes me and then cuts right back in front of me in my lane. I flash my high beams and hazard lights to tell the guy that I don't want any trouble and to get off my rear. I don't even know the guy. I guess that's when the cops saw that and decided it was time to pull me over.
When the officer pulls me over, he drives his car side by side with me, and tells me to go chase down my "friend". I was just in shock.. I thought it was the officer's job to go hunt and chase down the other driver. I did what I was told, but I went slow so I made sure I didn't break another law while doing it (the cops were following right behind me as I was searching for the Accord). But, it was too late, the Accord got away and the officer decides to just pull me over. Two other patrol cars come up. They didn't even bother with the Accord. It seemed like as long as they caught one person, they were fine with it. They put in no effort to go and search for the Accord.
The usual went down. They asked for my license and registration. I told them that I have been cited for the same thing and I attempted to show them my ongoing ticket. The officer (who was a young white male) had some bad attitude. He simply said "I don't care about your other ticket." So I went on and gave him my documents. The officer said he was going to cite me for speed contest. He said me and the other guy were lined up and we took off at the same time when there was not even ONCE a time when we got the chance to even line up at a stop or light. There was alot of traffic on the road at the time and the Accord was pretty much in front of me the whole time. The officer also claimed that I was doing 55mph in a 35mph zone but I knew he was bluffing. I was checking my spedometer constantly so I wouldn't go over the limit no matter how much the Accord wanted to pressure me into racing him. The officer did not even radar me, and if he did, he didn't show me his radar gun. Lastly, he didn't even cite me for speeding on the ticket, so I know he was just saying that so I could agree to speeding so that he could cite me for it.
The officers didn't impount my car cause my sister had a valid driver's license and she drove the car home. But I know this is unfair. I didn't do anything wrong. I was simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The hazardous lights was what caught the cops attention (cause I guess he was already watching what we were doing by then). But, it was just a signal to the other driver to slow down and to get off of my rear. I guess the officer's first intention was that I wanted the guy in the Accord to line up with me.
Keep in mind, my cousin who has been following me the whole way to our destination, has seen the whole thing happen. His girlfriend was also in the car. My sister and my other cousin was in my car too. So I pretty much have lots of witnesses.
So what do you guys think of this? I know it's pretty bad already. For my first case.. they are looking to drop the misdemeanor into an infraction. I already hired a lawyer for that case. But, how am I gonna fork out another 3k for another lawyer? I know I won't win this case without a lawyer. But what are other alternatives that I can do to lessen the charge? What are my chances of getting a job? And how many points on my record am I looking at?
Here's some additional information:
- Weather was cold
- Road was dry
- Traffic was medium
My life is such at a standstill..
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