To make a long story short I was cited by a state trooper for passing in a no-passing zone based on testimony of a called in complaint. I was actually planning on paying the ticket because the court is 100 miles from my home and did not want to deal with it. But after requesting discovery from the trooper and coming to the conclusion that the witness fabricated virtually the whole thing I decided to fight it.
I had close to 3 months to prepare my case. I had pictures of the scene, diagrams, prepared questions, etc. During the court case the judge would only let me question the witness and trooper about the actual location where the supposed illegal pass took place, even though the witness was given the chance to give his full account of the incident including and up to where he first encountered me to the point where he said that I passed illegally. This is a distance of 12 miles.
Also, I was not allowed to use any of my diagrams, pictures, etc. It came down to a he said/she said thing and even though the witness said that he was 1/4 mile away and could give no identification of any of the vehicles involved, the judge said that his was the more credible of testimonies and that he had more credibility as far as knowing the area, even though I travel the same stretch of road daily on business and I mentioned this.
Isn't it my right to have the same chance to give testimony as the witness does and to give my account of what happened? It did not help that the trooper said that he believed the witness even though the witness verbally contradicted his written statement and both the judge and the trooper failed to catch this, and I was not given a fair chance to point this out.
Any tips appreciated. Thanks!
I had close to 3 months to prepare my case. I had pictures of the scene, diagrams, prepared questions, etc. During the court case the judge would only let me question the witness and trooper about the actual location where the supposed illegal pass took place, even though the witness was given the chance to give his full account of the incident including and up to where he first encountered me to the point where he said that I passed illegally. This is a distance of 12 miles.
Also, I was not allowed to use any of my diagrams, pictures, etc. It came down to a he said/she said thing and even though the witness said that he was 1/4 mile away and could give no identification of any of the vehicles involved, the judge said that his was the more credible of testimonies and that he had more credibility as far as knowing the area, even though I travel the same stretch of road daily on business and I mentioned this.
Isn't it my right to have the same chance to give testimony as the witness does and to give my account of what happened? It did not help that the trooper said that he believed the witness even though the witness verbally contradicted his written statement and both the judge and the trooper failed to catch this, and I was not given a fair chance to point this out.
Any tips appreciated. Thanks!
