Well, it was a long time coming; but, all matters, criminal and civil, have been resolved between myself and the City of Lakeway, James Debrow, Hector Almaguer, and Jeff Brown.

VS.

If you recall, I was detained, arrested and issued six tickets for various city code ordinances in April of 2009. Eight months later, I went to court in defense of the tickets I received. At the conclusion of four and a half hours of testimony, I was adjudged NOT-guilty on all charges — Duh! In email exchanges between city officials (which were acquired through public information requests), even the city manager intimated that he didn’t really think the charges that were levied against me were appropriate for the circumstances. However, prosecutor Scott Taliaferro was unwavering in his resolve to take my case to the full extent possible. Who knows why these frivolous charges weren’t dropped at my first appearance. Scratch that! — I know WHY, I just wonder WHO was the main influence to push the issue.

Regardless of the whos and whys, all the criminal charges were essentially dismissed (NOT guilty). But, not before a few interesting details came out in testimony. Shortly before trial, the prosecutor spoke with my attorney, discussing with him details about what Code Enforcement officer Jeff Brown had told him. Seems as though James Debrow had told Brown to find anything he could to write me tickets for — that “This was getting personal”!! Debrow wanted to slap me with ANYthing he could, just to flex his muscle and cost me time/money — all because his little feelings were hurt? Read the rest of this entry »

Yep! I was arrested.

A little background for those of you who don’t know the recent history of SpeedTrapAhead.org.

As well as running a website that post articles of interest regarding traffic laws, tickets, legal decisions, driving safety, activism, state laws, etc., I also, from time to time, will stand on the side of a road, wearing my “SpeedTrapAhead.org” T-shirt, near where police are running a radar enforced speed zone. (I used to hold a sign, instead; but, that proved to be tricky with state sign laws.)

While doing the sign/shirt thing, I have been approached many times, by officers from several different jurisdictions (three times in Lakeway alone). None of them ever took it further than a quick comment or short discussion about what I was doing. They were actually quite friendly. NONE of them even asked me for I.D.

That is, until Lakeway Sr. Sgt. James DeBrow came around. A little over a year ago, I had an encounter with him. (search “James DeBrow” on this site for more info on that.) But, THAT is old news, and I’ve moved on from that experience.

Fast forward to last week. My truck, with a “SpeedTrapAhead.org” window decal was parked off of a main road in Lakeway, TX. It was parked in an area where construction vehicles and construction employees are parked during some road construction in the area. My truck was parked parallel to the road, behind a silt fence, about 6 feet from the sidewalk, and ~12 feet from the curb. My video camera was on a short tripod, sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, filming traffic going by in a school zone.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yea… Well, it had to come to a decision sooner or later. And that decision was that I was “Guilty” of violating Texas Transportation Code 544.006 .

You know, when I first got this ticket, I thought, “It’ll never fly!” How could they be issuing a ticket under that statute for holding a homemade cardboard sign. That part of the law is really meant to keep people from erecting their own signs that are meant to appear as a real traffic sign. For instance, the farmer who made and installed fake speed limit signs on the road by his farm. And, this sign — another example of what the law was intended to prevent.

But, when I’m being a little defiant (okay, a lot), and the cop is being… well, a COP… You can expect that things are going to get a little hairy. Ask me a question, then interrupt me mid-sentence to demand identification… Well, That’s just rude. Be rude, and expect others to treat you accordingly.

Anyway, there’s not much to say about the outcome, except that there ARE some plain and simple facts that I would like to make known about the whole thing:

The court found me guilty of violating a Texas statute;

The judge will let the prosecutor play a video and make comments and pose questions throughout; but, he won’t let the defense replay portions of the same video during cross examination;

The slower Officer DeBrow draws a sketch, the more overtime everyone gets paid;

Witnesses can outright LIE so long as the jury doesn’t know otherwise (and it’s hard to disprove some things when the judge won’t allow you to replay part of a video);

The bailiff can take catnaps while the jury deliberates;

I need more practice at being my own lawyer;

AND,

The “Thin Blue Line” DOES exist!

So, all in all, everything’s cool now. The jury cut my fine by 65%! (Because I requested the jury determine the fine amount, not the judge.) There WERE additional costs associated with the jury trial. Overall, I paid more than if I’d just rolled over and taken it. But it was worth it. I got to participate in the system — something far too few people take advantage of. And, I learned alot along the way. The main thing being: I need to redesign my sign. I’ve got some good ideas already. Obviously, it’s gotta be something that doesn’t even come close to resembling a traffic sign. Easy enough — How about the profile of a police car, with “Speed Trap Ahead.org” all in one line down the side of the car?

I’ve always found that “You almost never get PAID for learning something; You seldom learn something for FREE; and, There is usually a cost, of some sort, associated with learning.” I don’t mind paying for my education. In fact, I consider the price I paid for the multitude of things I learned to be quite a deal!

I wonder what new things I’ll learn from my next encounter?

Be careful out there! Drive safely; and, Pay attention to your surroundings.

Regarding THIS post…

Well, I’ll make it short and sweet — I’m a little busy right now. I’ll write more details when I have more time.

Jury trial is set for July 11, 2008, at 1:00 p.m.

All done!

Here’s the post about the outcome.

Update: (05/22/08) (In case you haven’t heard about this, here’s the original post about getting my ticket)

I went to the arraignment a couple of weeks ago. The prosecutor stated that he didn’t really know what the ticket was about. But then I started explaining about SpeedTrapAhead.org… then he suddenly knew what was going on. Obviously, there had been discussion of my sign holding prior to that day.

He asked what I thought should happen. I said, “I think it should be dismissed because…” He then interrupted with, “Well, That’s not gonna happen.”

“Well, then sign me up for a jury trial“, I said. And that’s where we’re at. I have a a pre-trial hearing on June 13th.

I really don’t think that this will actually go to trial. I think this is just a delay tactic to give me a little time to “get scared” and bargain my rights away. Now, I can say, “Well, That’s not gonna happen.”

The prosecutor doesn’t want to drop it because that’ll put out the message that it was a bogus ticket and it’s okay to hold my sign. On the other hand, if it goes to trial and I win, a precedent will be set saying that it’s absolutely not against the law to hold my sign. Either way is okay, as either ruling will have basically the same effect. There is NO WAY Joe Citizen would think my sign is an official traffic control device.

Anyway, I’m just waiting, and getting my stuff together.

UPDATE: Jury Trial is set for July 11, 21008, at 1:00 p.m.

Any clicks on AdSense ads in the right column that may be of interest to you would be appreciated.

Also, Please check out THIS video of a PLEASANT encounter with a rational LEO.