Somerville Traffic Court

[axedmoon.livejournal.com]

Has anyone ever had experience with contesting a ticket? Any advice?

Comments

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

In the words of Ivan Drago: You will lose

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

Depends on if you have a basis for contesting it.
For example, I know someone who got a street sweeping ticket issued at 12:05, when they moved the car at 12:15 and the street sweeper doesn't come by until morning, tossed.
Or if you catch the cop issuing a parking ticket for that kind of situation they can't revoke the ticket, but they can make the note "moved before sweep" or "moved immediately" on the ticket. That makes it more likely to be voided. It's just that the cop isn't allowed to stop the process once he or she begins making the ticket.

[axedmoon.livejournal.com]

Mine is in regards of a moving violation. I stopped at a stop sign and entered the rotary from Warner St, and a cop almost hit me. He pulled me over and said I didn't yield to him and that I didn't stop at the sign. My friend and I contested (I was in the rotary first, he sped through from the other side) so he dropped the yield charge, but the stop sign violation remains. It's crapshute.

[enveri.livejournal.com]

We successfully contested a street sweeping ticket because the sign we were parked under said street sweeping ran through 11/30, not 12/31. We took a photo and the city said 'Well. You were wrong, but we'll let it go this time.'

Not our fault they missed a sign (we had just moved, and never parked under the other signs, so had no idea they were different), and they were really bitchy about it, but we got it dropped.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

'Well. You were wrong, but we'll let it go this time.'

This is their standard response, even when it is clear the city was wrong.

They did this to someone who was ticketed before the ticket window opened in a snow emergency a few years back.

It's obviously corrupt, but how does one fight it?

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I think calling it corrupt is pushing it. It's more like city employees who develop a small sense of self and their only joy is inflicting their tiny little bureaucratic power upon others.

OK, corrupt works.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

I call it corrupt - if it was not legal for the ticket to be issued (in the case of the snow parking one years ago), but they say they did nothing wrong, in order to prevent it from being used as precedent, they are trying to preserve their ability to ticket people unlawfully. Thus, it's corrupt.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think it's so they never set any precedent of having certain types of tickets overturned. That way, no one can ever say ,"But you said you were wrong about my friend's ticket." Each case is considered individual.

[benign-cremator.livejournal.com]

If the ticket was issued fraudulently, you will need absolutely stellar evidence that the ticket is wrong to get it dropped. They automatically assume that you moved your car before any pictures were taken, etc. It seems easier to fight honest tickets.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

The city parking office is a totally different bureaucracy from the state court which handles moving violations.

While discussions of parking appeals are generally useful, in this post I'd like to hear how *moving violation* hearings are generally handled around here.

[kalimba21.livejournal.com]

I have dealt with 2 stop sign violations over 10 years. 1 in cambridge, handled at the middlesex court, and one in somerville, handled at the somerville court last summer.

The 2 experiences were completely different. In Somerville, I paid my $25 and spoke to the magistrate. I told them the truth - that I had stopped, and the officer staking out possibly didn't have a clear view due to the angle. That he pulled me over 8 blocks later and I had no idea why he was pulling me over. My child was in the car and I always stop at that sign. That maybe I stopped a bit late to get a better view. (hairpin right at pearl onto medford) They offered to lower the fine but not drop the charge, which carries points. I paid another $50 to appeal it to the judge. That was the most eye opening kangaroo court I've ever seen. At 9am, the court doors opened and all the officers involved in all the cases walked in together, joked around with the judge for a bit, and then sat down together. One by one, each officer and each accused went up to separate microphones on opposite sides of the room. The officer stated his case, the accused stated his case, and the judge hit his gavel, declaring "guilty as charged... next."
They went through every traffic case that way. The officers and the judge were joking around throughout. Obviously they do this a lot.

The main thing that I got from the cambridge experience was... they don't want you to imply that the officer is lying. So there has to be some plausibility. In Cambridge the magistrate is much kinder, I've seen him twice for 2 different things. We actually joked around a bit both times. In Somerville, my impression was that everyone just covers for each other. But if you take it to the judge and the charging officer doesn't show up, you automatically will get off - paying only $75 but no points. Don't know how often that happens, officers not showing up. They were all there (at least 5 guys, maybe more) the day I went.

The points I got from that endeavor will ultimately cost me $1200 over 6 years. I've never felt so much like I'm living in an extortionist third world country. I guess that's the darker side of our fair city. Given that outcome, I'd probably fight it again .

I'll be interested in knowing how you make out. Or if anyone else has tried this.

[axedmoon.livejournal.com]

Hello there, your comment was the most helpful comment. I am quite glad I read it before I went to court today! It's just nice to hear other people's experiences to know what to expect and what not.

However, I had an incredible different experience. I waited in a line to have my case heard at the Somerville District Court. It was first come, first serve. Very odd. I had noticed that the few people in front of me were just walking out and going home. Good sign for me? When I walked into the "court," it was just the clerk and the assistant. The assistant read my charge, and the magistrate asked my side. It seems my ticket was also marked in error that a collision had occurred while this is a compelling reason, I do not know if this was the sole reason for my case's dismissal; my case was thrown out as a warning instead. There were no officers present in the room, and it all happened quickly.

I'm sorry your case was not given the proper justice. I was losing a little faith in the system simply that I got the ticket in such injustice as well. It is quite an inconsistent system in that manner. As my friend says, the odds of Somerville justice is like a casino.

[kalimba21.livejournal.com]

Lucky for you there was a blatant error on your ticket. I'm sure that weighed in.
The first round, it was just the magistrate and assistant for me as well. Yes it is very fast.

Glad things worked out for you. I think it's pretty rare.