You can also file a request for discovery at the office of the department that issued the ticket but you'd still want to send a request to the district attorney's office. Before doing that you have something to think about. If you want to play the game of hoping the officer doesn't respond to the trial by declaration subpoena you'll have to figure out if you want to submit a discovery request before preparing and sending in your trial by declaration or wait until found guilty and then request the information before your retrial.

In other words if you know you're innocent or the officer did something incorrect I'd maybe request discovery before trial by declaration in order to prepare a better case, but if not I personally might wait until after that case has been heard and you've been found guilty. If you make the officer produce the paperwork he's probably going to make sure to submit his written statement for the prosecution.

Whatever you decide just make sure to be on top of checking the status of the trail by declaration case online or calling the courthouse as necessary (most of the counties in SoCal update online records within a day or so). You only have so much time to request a new trial and the court may or may not notify you in time to request discovery and get everything prepared for your defense. Depending on case load expect to have a retrial scheduled 30 days out so if you'll need to request discovery be on the ball and get everything in as soon as possible.



Probably not going to happen as Upland is in San Bernardino County. You might have a chance to get it moved closer to you if you can prove hardship such as having no way to get to the assigned courthouse or some personal or medical issue but not to a different county.

About your only option you have is when you get stopped. If you ask nicely an officer may give a list of courts he can assign it to. Normally it will be whichever is closest or the area you were stopped in. By the law your only option they have to allow is if you request the county seat at the time of the stop. If you ask for it to be moved to the county seat later on after the case has been filed the court probably won't move it unless you have a really good reason.

When you know the officer is going to give you a ticket or comes back to the car with one ask for the county seat if that's what you want. They'll usually have no problem and if they do take issue don't argue as long as you've asked, just make a small note requesting the county seat above your signature on the ticket. If it still gets sent to a different court you may need to file a motion to have it moved.

Also weigh that if you ask for the county seat it will probably set off a red flag that the officer is dealing with someone who is probably going to fight the ticket and they'll probably make better notes at the time of the stop. If you're talking a couple courthouses that aren't too far apart you might just want to accept whichever one they put on the ticket and not bring it up (know ahead of time where all the county seats are for the areas you drive through). An exception might be if you're out in one of the big counties like San Berdo in the middle of nowhere and get stopped and request the county seat hoping the officer won't show up a couple hundred miles away (assuming you're willing to make the drive or live close to the county seat).

In your case that wouldn't have worked anyways. You're automatically going to be sent to the county seat for San Bernardino since closest to Upland.

 

up here in alberta anyways, i don't think its trial by decleration but if your gonna fight it you basically either go in and plead not guilty or mail in the ticket marked not guilty and they send you your trial date in the mail. i got a ticket last week for 133km/h in a 100km/h zone the cop cut off 3 cars and almost rear ended me without having his lights on before he turned his lights on. also the radar he had me on said 129km/h and he wrote on the ticket 133km/h. so i'm fighting it for incorrectly filling out official paperwork. he also has "video" of the whole thing so this should be interesting

 

With most units on the market the officer has to manually "lock" the RADAR which puts it into a freeze-frame type mode. Depending on your law, if he saw a faster reading before he was able to get to the lock button/trigger they might very well be able to site for that. I've also heard of a few cases that went to trial and the dependant was being obnoxious and wasting the court's time and although the officer cut the driver a break by writing it up as going the slower, locked speed, due to how they behaved in the courtroom the judge/magistrate found them guilty of the higher speed (which is somewhat of a gray area in how I've interpreted the case law and vehicle code here but still happens).

You have to be careful how you come across, especially if you are guilty (whether you agree with the law/code or not) and the officer was trying to do you a favor. I've heard many stories from friends with different departments that go along the lines of stopping someone for speeding and instead of citing for the speed writing them up for something correctible and much less expensive (i.e. tint or front plate) and the driver still complained. Guess what they got tickets for. Part of the process of fighting a ticket is to know when you are in the wrong and minimize possible consequences (i.e. court fees, points on driving records, etc.) and that starts at the stop.


Also as this is a California related thread, while some departments including the CHP have cameras mounted in the car, they can't be subpoenaed and to go along with that can't be used by the state in prosecution of cases. Same thing goes with the officer using a personal voice recorder which many will do. Unless they book it into evidence it can only be used for their recollection of events while writing a report and most won't keep the files as they can't be used for anything else.

The same thing applies to anyone here who thinks they should record their stop and be able to use it. Unless you immediately go to the local department and have them book it into evidence it isn't going to be admissible as a defense other than to help you recall what was said for your written defense.

 

well i know i was goin 85 on a 70 by temecula >_<

 

ya i know i was speeding but not what he cited me for.

 

im suprised not more people q'd in on this. It works quite well actually.

The point here is take as much of the courts time and money processing your ticket to where its not worth there time to prosecute you anymore. I've gotten out of two tickets within the past 10 months pleading not guilty, extending court dates, then extend them again. Wait till last minute on everything, just dont be late. Every time they process a request a clerk has to work on it, that cost $$. In CA there hard up for dough, so waste ever last second of that cops and judges time as you can. Speeding ticket for $400 is a ******* scam. Good write up sir

 

Pops is CHP, he loves when people use this to try and get out of tickets. He has yet to lose a trial by dec and he has had plenty in his 16yrs.

 

the line from "blood in blood out" I have more time than money. TBD>trial de nuevo
reduction in fine is also possible.

in the end the tax payers loose =p

 

Obviously pops likes it more when people just take him to court cuz its free money(OT), TBD only annoys him, he has his end done like a day after he gets the notice.

 

yah my "pops" was a cop for 26 years, and I work for the police. They all say the same thing. If word gets out there is a way to get out of tickets then they dont really stand to much ground do they? Judge almost 99.9% is going to agree with the cop provided he gives the response. Some cops have lots of paper work and dont do it, others are on leave, vacation, medical whatever it may be they dont respond. Its a game of playing the odds, your odds are better fighting then admitting guilt right off the bat. Ive also gone to court pleaded not guilty, and the cop dismissed the case, why I dont know. But it happened and i got money back. Its all in the odds. But the cops want you to think they will be there fighting tooth and nail day in and day out... thats not always the case. So if my TBD annoys the cop, ill annoy him more and make him go to court if i dont like the response the judge gives(which is completely legal).