Dangerous driving charge - Victory!

**ManDownUnder** · 2nd August 2006, 15:17

Originally Posted by Funkyfly

LOL, you sound like the officer, you could be brothers.

Now heres a lesson in being academic, namely point 4 - pedantic.

You said "The fact is - you still did something wrong, you got caught, and you were not punished"

Well there is nothing even remotely academic about that statement. I had clearly stated it cost me big dollars, and the original post noted i had lost my license. I was punished - Fact.

So you certainly werent applying points 4, 6 or 7, point 8 - "Having no practical purpose or use" , indicates that while not praticial or useful some thought has gone into it, which is clearly not the case in your comment.

Your comment is thus less academic more delusional.

errr... small point - you paid the money in defence of something you didn't do. You didn't pay money for the thing you did do... edit - likewise the loss of licence. You'll also note I mentioned both of those things should not have happened and the cop should be punished accordingly.

or did I miss something?

**pritch** · 2nd August 2006, 15:31

Well done Funkyfly, too often these stories don't have happy endings.
(Sometimes due partly to there being a considerable divergence between what we read and what actually ocurred?)

I seem to remember your original post on the subject and am really pleased for you. Looking forward to seeing you out on one of the rides :-)

Have bling for the write-up.

**Funkyfly** · 2nd August 2006, 15:38

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder

errr... small point - you paid the money in defence of something you didn't do. You didn't pay money for the thing you did do... edit - likewise the loss of licence. You'll also note I mentioned both of those things should not have happened and the cop should be punished accordingly.

or did I miss something?

You obvoiusly missed a lot, namely school im guessing.

Punishment - look it up. Punishment doenst always relate directly to the crime - it should, but doesnt.

Now think again, was i punished? Could loss of license be considered punishment, hmm, what about the rough handling and mistreatment i recieved from the officer, punishment?

You can do your little dance all you want, even give it names like "academic" but the FACTs speak for themselves.

Fact one i was speeding
Fact two the officer construded it as dangerous driving, took my license as punishment, and made up some fanciful story to make it stick which i was dragged through the court system for.
Fact three the dangerous charge was dismissed and i have an $8000 lawyer bill
Fact four you stated i wasnt "Punished"

**sAsLEX** · 2nd August 2006, 15:42

How come the public cannot be awarded reimbursment of costs from a not guilty outcome? Surely part of justice is that those that have not done wrong are not punished only those that deserve it?

Would be interested to see if you can get you money back from this Funk.

I know many on this site who have been victims of police lying on the stand in order to get their conviction, and a fair percentage of these jsut dont bother stopping these days.

**Funkyfly** · 2nd August 2006, 15:45

Originally Posted by pritch008

Well done Funkyfly, too often these stories don't have happy endings.
(Sometimes due partly to there being a considerable divergence between what we read and what actually ocurred?)

I seem to remember your original post on the subject and am really pleased for you. Looking forward to seeing you out on one of the rides :-)

Have bling for the write-up.

By the way a big thanks to all those who have taken the time to say "good stuff", its been a long time and a lot of stress and money.

I will post some of the transscript from the hearing once i get it as it will make for some interesting reading if anyones interested.

**Lou Girardin** · 2nd August 2006, 15:46

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder

The fact is - you still did something wrong, you got caught, and you were not punished.

Another wondrous benefit of this amazing legal system we have. The cops charged him with one matter and failed to prove it. Do you think they should be able to throw subsequent charges at him? Or should they just hit the poor sod with everything they can think of from the word go?
It's only a traffic offence, not mass murder.

**slimyxylofone** · 2nd August 2006, 15:51

Originally Posted by onearmedbandit

Sorry, but why didn't you bother to read the thread first before posting the above. Especially seeing as you admit you will read the thread after making your point.

Because I was explaining why some people wanted to know how much he was actually breaking the law (in response to Finn's "Edit: Why do people want to know how fast he was going. Who cares.")

What's wrong with that? My response to that question would still be the same now that I have read the whole thread.

The original post was not clear on the matter of whether he was actually speeding excessively, so those who asked before Finn's post would have likely been thinking what I was.

**sAsLEX** · 2nd August 2006, 15:53

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder
The fact is - you still did something wrong, you got caught, and you were not punished.

ummm loosing you license for 28 days is a fair bit of punishment for 121 kmh

dont you think?

**Funkyfly** · 2nd August 2006, 16:03

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

How come the public cannot be awarded reimbursment of costs from a not guilty outcome? Surely part of justice is that those that have not done wrong are not punished only those that deserve it?

Would be interested to see if you can get you money back from this Funk.

I know many on this site who have been victims of police lying on the stand in order to get their conviction, and a fair percentage of these jsut dont bother stopping these days.

My lawyer thinks i have a good case for claiming costs due to the awesome summing up by the judge, i would love to cliam costs but this will cost me even more $$$ to file, and im already way over what i expected to pay. Im reserving my decision to claim until i get the transscript, then i'll talk to a few lawyers to get their views. I have heard you dont get it all back, so i would need to weight up cost of filing against what i might get back.

It sucks to get this far only to have to make a decision based on finance.

**slimyxylofone** · 2nd August 2006, 16:06

Originally Posted by Funkyfly

Let me say it again for those that missed it, the case WASNT dismissed due to a technicality, the fact the officier didnt follow police pursuit procedure (which was put in place to curb the amount of injuries and deaths resulting from police chases) just highlighted what a nitwit he was.

The case was dismissed due to no evidence, the holes in the officers story were so big the judge didnt even want to hear from myself or my three independent witnesses! thats how bad his story was. Thats why i won.

I didnt contest the fact i was speeding, and would have happily paid the ticket, but the officer took a dislike to me or whatever and embellished the facts to a point where they didnt even make sense, 180kph!

Heres a fact for all you who are quick to jump in with "do the crime, do the time" cliches..........

Not one call was made to 111 to complain about my "dangerous driving" at speeds in excess of "180", however a concerned member of the public called 111 to complain about the officers driving!

Yeah I never said I though my statement definitely applied to you and realised that it didn't after I read the whole thread. Good result then, and good on you for (likely) preventing him from being dishonest like this again.

I should qualify why I said what I did to begin with. It's well known that many blatantly guilty offenders get off drunk driving charges and all other manner of crimes by hiring a lawyer to attack the technicalities of the procedures the police use. Like I said, these laws are generally there to protect ones rights, but when someone who is 2-3 times over the limit gets off because the cop didn't fill a form out properly then this is a definite miscarriage of justice.

Now, this case had the possibility of being one of these cases. But it turned out that it didn't and I'm not claiming that it is one of these examples, just that people may have thought this to begin with.

**sAsLEX** · 2nd August 2006, 16:08

Originally Posted by Funkyfly

It sucks to get this far only to have to make a decision based on finance.

It does stink a fair bit, why should the innocent pay for other peoples fuck ups

Heres hoping your lawdogs think you have a case and you get through the next one as well as this one went, I reckon if you had the same judge.......

**ManDownUnder** · 2nd August 2006, 16:24

Originally Posted by Funkyfly

Fact four you stated i wasnt "Punished"

Nearly - I said you weren't punished for the thing you did do. Ie the speeding.
I also said you were punished for the thing you didn't do.

Re school - I enjoyed it - the days I bothered showing up anyway... what makes you ask?

**ManDownUnder** · 2nd August 2006, 16:27

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

Originally Posted by ManDownUnder
The fact is - you still did something wrong, you got caught, and you were not punished.

ummm loosing you license for 28 days is a fair bit of punishment for 121 kmh

dont you think?

You're right - I didn't complete the sentence (sorry). I meant didn't get punished for it. (while being severely punished for something he didn't do)

**ManDownUnder** · 2nd August 2006, 16:28

Originally Posted by Lou Girardin

Another wondrous benefit of this amazing legal system we have. The cops charged him with one matter and failed to prove it. Do you think they should be able to throw subsequent charges at him? Or should they just hit the poor sod with everything they can think of from the word go?
It's only a traffic offence, not mass murder.

He was doing 121 kph per the Police Radar, he should have been ticketed accordingly, that's all I'm saying.

edit - to answer your question specifically, I think the ticket would have been fine ('scuse the pun) and what they did was go over the top for some reason. I think we're both asking for common sense on this one.

Use the evidence at hand, ticket the guy, and have a chat about any possible higher speeds if there is reasonable suspicion they were involved.