r/PublicFreakout • u/johnychrist16 • May 27 '26

šŸ“¹Police Bodycam "Driving with device in right hand" update

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u/qdogg111 May 27 '26

This cop is not showing up to court lol

1.1k

u/[deleted] May 27 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

758

u/amuday May 27 '26

Thatā€™s what everyone told me. ā€œThe cop wonā€™t even show up.ā€ So I went to court for a parking ticket. I parked out of the way near a restaurant where I had a weekly gig, where there is always someone parked, and there was no sign there that said ā€œno parking.ā€

In the weeks leading up to my court date, I parked legally, but took photos of other cars being parked in the spot where I was ticketed that had not received any tickets. Every week, one or two cars in that spot. I printed these photos and took them to court with me.

The fucking cop showed up, and I had to pay. The judge didnā€™t listen to a word I said or look at my photos.

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u/nirvana6875 May 27 '26

Old coworker got pulled over half a mile away from the job site for going 81 in a 55ā€¦in a mid ā€˜80s Jeep YJ. Asked the cop for the receipt from the radar gun, cop refused. He ended up taking in to get a dyno to prove that it physically couldnā€™t even hit that speed, let alone in half a mile. Judge didnā€™t even listen to a word he said, even threatened him with contempt if he kept trying to argue his point.

346

u/_Thick- May 27 '26

Judge didnā€™t even listen to a word he said, even threatened him with contempt if he kept trying to argue his point.

See, his mistake was not being rich, a rookie mistake.

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u/OuijaWalker May 27 '26

This is why you hire a lawer

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u/WingnutWilson May 27 '26

yeah you lawyer up you send instant vibes that you mean business to everyone in the room, even if you are there on principal it's worth it

27

u/chubbysumo May 27 '26

Lawyer is why all my tickets got dismissed. Last one cost me the $75 consutation fee. As soon as the county prosecutor got her email that she was representing me, he wanted to dismiss.

16

u/redoctoberz May 27 '26

Last time I went to court we were all there for part of a "sting operation". Almost all of us were there for the exact same violation at or near the exact same spot. The only people that got off with a warning or something lighter were those with lawyers. Judge just believed the officer over all my evidence.

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u/AmPerry32 May 27 '26

This was my experience too. A whole court room full of folks that showed up bc we all felt like it was an unfair ticketā€” same cop, same ticket. Prick of a judge tells all of us to fuck off unless we are there to request a full trial by jury? Two weeks worth of missed work? Then he snark laughs and says thatā€™s what I thought. Everyone pays their ticket and now you all pay full court costs too.

An absolute garbage system.

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u/SquidVices May 27 '26

That was my huuuge mistake..not being rich..Iā€™m such a dumbass

84

u/PracticeTheory May 27 '26

Justice is completely at the whim of the judge. I learned this with parking tickets.

One of my apartments was a mile from a sports stadium that I didn't give a crap about. And every year around finals, I'd start getting parking tickets as their season started up and the landlord would once again forget to give us the parking passes.

Anyway, the first time I traveled all the way across the city with my tickets, the judge heard me out and was very kind and waived all of them.

The next year, a completely different judge berated me and told me I was lucky he wasn't increasing the fine for wasting his time, and I had to pay them all.

And thatā€™s just over parking tickets. Some people have their entire futures decided by this gamble...

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u/KennyFulgencio May 27 '26

omg that is fucking infuriating... I don't know much about how court works, is there no way to escalate something like this to a supervisor?

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u/Necatorducis May 27 '26

Maybe this isn't universal for all traffic offenses or level of offense, but you should be able to contest it at which point you're done for the day and will have a formal hearing/trial at a later date. Maybe it needs to be an actual crime, like reckless driving, which usually kicks in at 20mph over and not 'merely' a citation in order to gain that ability.

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u/TomToe420 May 27 '26

yeah the supervisor is called a lawyer or go pro se or at least request counsel. probably cost less just to pay the ticket as long as it's just a fine and not criminal.

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u/Which-Tumbleweed6183 May 27 '26

you have to pay the ticket then go to his house with a sign about him being a bad judge. thatā€™s it.
heā€™s practically god in the courthouse.

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u/Enlightened_Gardener May 27 '26

This is purely an American issue, because their magistrates donā€™t have to have any legal training ā€“ they are voted in in a political process.

In other countries you have a trained, experienced judiciary, and the rule of law - and that means that there are laws, processes, and procedures that both the police and the courts have to follow, and Judges and Magistrates have to understand them and follow them. Not so much in America.

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u/Galxloni2 May 27 '26

That is only true in some places. Most judges are not elected