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Open Carry Case Lost - 10th Circuit Appeal

davidmcbeth

Banned
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
16,167
Location
earth's crust
<snip>
*3-5 minutes later*
"Mr. Needham I will not be writing you a ticket afterall. I looked at my RADAR's log to see when it was last calibrated and it was well over a month ago. We are supposed to calibrate them every 20 days, I appologize for holding you up. Would you like me to follow you to the gas station to ensure you don't have to walk a ways?"
"I would appreciate that, if you are able to do that." [/I]

I understand that if you don't say anything you have a higher probability of winning a court case. If I get stopped for no reason (DUI checkpoint for example), I don't say a word. I don't answer any questions, I sit there quietly. I role down my window and I act like they aren't there. I have never had an issue, nor have I had to wait longer than about 30-45 seconds.

Again, I get it. I am just not an activist. I'm a normal person, carrying a weapon for personal defense and that's it.

So he admitted he had no RAS/PC/warrant to pull you over ? That's what it looks like to me -- a 4th amendment violation.

You should check and see how many speeding tickets he wrote that day via a records request. What he told you is a lie ... I know of no manufacturer that requires re-calibration of their machines every 20 days. You can check this via a record request for all manuals on the radar units that this authority has in use.

Cops that pull people over w/o RAS/PC/warrant should not be cops IMO.
 

Tneedham

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2016
Messages
26
Location
Walsh County, North Dakota
So he admitted he had no RAS/PC/warrant to pull you over ? That's what it looks like to me -- a 4th amendment violation.

You should check and see how many speeding tickets he wrote that day via a records request. What he told you is a lie ... I know of no manufacturer that requires re-calibration of their machines every 20 days. You can check this via a record request for all manuals on the radar units that this authority has in use.

Cops that pull people over w/o RAS/PC/warrant should not be cops IMO.

I agree, it was a 4th amendment violation. I don't care enough to bother with that, also I don't remember the date except that it was sometime last summer. I don't remember his name, vehicle number or anything like that. It would be like calling up the records and saying, "Hey can you get me all of the things issued by that one cop who was involved in the traffic stop on that one day? He was wearing a brown uniform with a Stetson, and his vehicle said "North Dakota Highway Patrol" with a license plate of "HP.... uh... somethin somethin".
 

bc.cruiser

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2011
Messages
786
Location
Fayetteville NC
... I know of no manufacturer that requires re-calibration of their machines every 20 days. You can check this via a record request for all manuals on the radar units that this authority has in use.

Review the post. The officer is not quoted as saying the manufacturer requires recalibration, only that "someone" requires it be done at that frequency.
 

Tneedham

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2016
Messages
26
Location
Walsh County, North Dakota
Review the post. The officer is not quoted as saying the manufacturer requires recalibration, only that "someone" requires it be done at that frequency.

That is correct. I didn't ask, nor did he tell me but I assumed that it was a department directed procedure. That is what I thought, and didn't even consider that it might be manufacturer dictated until I read this post. Don't take that to mean that it couldn't have been determined by the manufacturer, just that I didn't think that the officer was referring to the manufacturer's supplied "owners manual" when he said, "we are supposed to recalibrate them every 20 days."
 

davidmcbeth

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earth's crust
Review the post. The officer is not quoted as saying the manufacturer requires recalibration, only that "someone" requires it be done at that frequency.

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Courts kinda of insist upon this....at least in every criminal traffic case I have been in where a speed measuring device (SMD) has been used.

paraphrasing (or combining all case transcripts) my experience in court:

1st) cop will testify that he did this or that (sometimes in great detail) but never says that he followed the manufacturer's recommended method of using the SMD

2nd) I motion to acquit after the state rests arguing that although the witness testified he did some method, the witness never said he followed the manufacturer's recommended method

3rd) court agrees and I win

Every time. All the time.

In in cases where a witness or prosecutor mentions "calibration" I argue State of Mass. v. Melendez-Diaz SCOTUS decision and demand that the person who did the calibration present himself prior to taking any evidence relating to calibration.

And in some cases, the old Frye examination argument is brought fourth. Judges love this one.

No secret in how to win traffic cases .... don't need to do discovery etc. although people sometimes like to do this and then argue that discovery was not complied with -- I don't go this route but you are free to do so.
 
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