practical guides

I WON !
If you get a traffic ticket, get this book. It's as good as a get out of jail free card! This would have saved me hundreds of dollars over the years had I known about it sooner, it's that good! Cops issue minor tickets costing hundreds, where only a warning should have been given. They do this for a reason... REVENUE. learn to beat them at their own game!

The only thing is that you must have half a brain. You need to be able to read it, and then adapt it to your own situation. Also, do not prepare a half hour trial! The system is set up to get you in and out as fast as possible. Remember the show 'Night Court'?
Ask your questions, destroy the cop's evidence (and ego) and get out. Also remember, Cops show up less than half the time. If they don't, Your case is automatically dismissed!
Have fun with it, I did!

Since this book was written by an attorney and not a police officer, it's strong on the courtroom end but somewhat weak on the traffic violation end of things. Because of that, I recommend getting this book AND Richard Wallace's "An Educated Guide to Speeding Tickets." Brown's and Wallace's books compliment each other - what one lacks, the other one has.

Wallace's book goes into more detail on the different methods police use for judging your speed; what to say and what not to say when you're pulled over; different radar faults such as shadowing, bumping, and batching; and what a "tracking history" is. This is great stuff for planning a defense strategy in court.

However, Wallace's book falters when it comes to legal details, and this is where Brown's "Fight Your Ticket in California" shines. It tells you about the forms you should use before going to court, like the "Informal Discovery Request" which allows you to request a copy of the officer's notes along with an engineering and traffic survey. Failure of the city to provide these documents (which is what usually happens) can result in dismissal of your case - something not even mentioned in Wallace's book. There is also a ton of advice on what to say in court, and when to say it.

I just beat my radar speeding ticket in court today because the arresting officer failed to show up - even though I saw him in the parking lot just fifteen minutes before our court session started! Based on what I learned reading Wallace's book, I realized that the officer had a weak case. And because I sent an "Informal Discovery Request" to the city police department, the city attorney, and the district attorney as recommended in Brown's book, I believe that the officer realized that he would be up against someone who knew what he was doing, and thus he chose not to appear.

Get this book, and Brown's book, spend a lot of time studying them and planning your defense, and you'll have a good chance of beating your ticket in court.

This is a very time consuming process. However, I have been burned so many times by overzealous cops, as at the time I was only able to afford older used cars that were cop magnets. I decided enough is enough, and I decided to fight back, and I never regretted the effort. After you go through the process once, you can use similar techniques with ease.

The book is very straightforward and no nonsense. You can get an honest sense of where your case stands. It has example forms and good legal claims you can utilize to assert your rights. Some of the most useful information is the social aspect of the court, police, and citizens, which gives one insights into how to go about your case. It is fairly honest, and let's you know when you need to get a lawyer, and how to successfully utilize a lawyer's skills effectively (to save time and money when needed).

As words of advice from a personal perspective, many courts will not permit you to win, despite that you have all your research and can prove without a doubt. This book alludes to that. Despite this, there are many ways you can arrange for your case to be dismissed, by doing a discovery, having reasonable motions denied setting your case up for an appeal, or by having your case exceed 45 days and not waiving your rights to a speedy trial.

For example of this, here is my scenario that would not have happened without this book:

In my case (San Mateo County), the judge ignored my pre-trial pleas and stated, "I'll decide what you can to in MYYY COURT!!!" This only infuriated me further, and made me study this book in greater detail. Before my court day, I prepared a peremptory challenge to disqualify the judge, just in case I had her again. Sure enough, this infamous pre-trail was my case judge. When my case came up, the cop proceeded to ramble his story, and she did not let me speak. I handed her my legally typed document (that I retyped from an example in the book), and with a snooty remark she asked why I did tell her about this before. She re-assigned the case to another date with another judge. On that date, I made a motion to dismiss my case for failure for a speedy trial - previously I had filed a legal document for my motion with the clerk (using example documents in the book). I did this just in case the judge would try to pull a fast one on me, as this is not uncommon in some counties. Reviewing past court hearings, the judge found I never waived my right to a speedy trial and dismissed the case. The cop was dumbfounded and wondered what happened. I was pleased because I got my money back and dragged the cop out to the court twice. However, despite my exhilaration that I got from winning, I also know how the process works, and I can fight similar cases without any significant loss of time.

I highly recommend this book. One should go through this process at least once, as it can save you a lot of money, and also let you know honestly where you stand, and how you can plausibly win a case. Consider standing up for your rights and not sheepishly giving money to our broken system. This book will empower you.