In Dash Dvd ticket

[Davide]

I did a search on this forum about this issue, but it wasn't really all too informing, so if anyone can clear some things up for me before I take it before the crown(June 29), I'd appretiate it!

Anyway, my buddies decided to get drunk one night at the whiskey, and I ended up DDing, so these two (drunk out of their tree) suggested I pull up to the doors to pick up the last guy. A fight breaks out, cops come, people clear, so here I am in a damn Escalade, with this Dvd playing(but I was in Park). cops box us in, comes over IDs me, asks me to shut the screen off, and I had no clue how(I was DDing for crap sakes I didn't think I'd need to read the manual for a 20min drop off), so I ended up getting a ticket for "driver distraction"($250), which is understandable. anyway being a 20yr driver I really don't need something stupid like this on my abstract/insurance

so what I need to know is:
1) is there deducted demerits for this? if so how many
2)does the fact that these have a safety feature which turns it off when not in park, mean nothing?
3)is there something I can say to help me with this? I already pleaded not guilty

thanks in advance

[Mad$ella]

Hrmmm....
I want to know what people have to say, cuase I am afraid of the same thing with my DVD...
I dont know enough to give you a for aure answer, so we'll see what the others have to say.

[2002civic]

ithink you could figt this one as you wernt i motion and if it lik emy old one it shouldnt be able to be viewed when the e brake is down, go take a video of that feature working and show them and you should get out of it

[Hakkola]

yeah, you will be able to get out of it unless the judge is a dill hole. You weren't driving, the car was in park, it is not driver distraction if you're not driving. Get video of the feature and present this and you will get off.

If you still have to pay after showing evidence I would probably sue the city.

[mike0989]

the officer prolly wont even show up and it will get tossed out.

[2000_SI]

Originally posted by Hakkola
yeah, you will be able to get out of it unless the judge is a dill hole. You weren't driving, the car was in park, it is not driver distraction if you're not driving. Get video of the feature and present this and you will get off.

If you still have to pay after showing evidence I would probably sue the city.
:werd:
And the cops where dicks for doing that, good job for going and ticketing a DD with crap tickets like that while he's trying to drive his drunk friends home in thier car (Im assuming it wasnt you car since you couldnt turn of the DVD player)

I remember leaving outlaws one time, and I did an u-turn with a burnt out turn signal and an over capacity car (everyone had seatbelts, but people where sharing), the cops let me off because everyone in my car was drunk and i was driving them all home....

[max_boost]

Kenny got one of those tickets awhile back in his SLK but he was actually driving and the cop was being a dick and ticketed him. PM him or maybe he'll respond because I'm not exactly sure what he did with it.

Anyway, did you tell the officer that this wasn't your car and you don't know how to turn it off? Regardless, you were parked, ticket is ridiculous!

[Davide]

I might be screwed, my "friend" moved along with the caddy, and i don't have a video camera anyway

another thing was, when I went to plead not guilty I seen the officers half of the ticket, and there were some notes that he wrote on this blank section. I was almost tempted to ask what he had wrote, personally I think those notes should be on both copies.

Edit:
Originally posted by max_boost
Anyway, did you tell the officer that this wasn't your car and you don't know how to turn it off? Regardless, you were parked, ticket is ridiculous!

Oh he was well aware, he only talked to me for a minute or less out of the 20min, the other 19 he was in his Van, was not like I had a whole of time to talk.

I was kind of shocked though, he handed me the folded ticket, I gave it to my buddy thinking it was his(his caddy, reg., insurance) he handed it back, I was like wtf!

sorry for babbling guys its just frustrating

[Hakkola]

Well, it sounds like you were parked right in front of the bar when it happened. Maybe see if one of the bouncers saw you getting a ticket, then he can say he saw what happened and you were in fact, not moving when the cop saw the dvd player on.

There is absolutely no reason what so ever that this ticket should have been written, I'm kinda pissed about it and it didn't even happen to me.

Where is your buddy? Get him to take a vid with someones camera and email it to you. If he's any kind of friend he will do it, maybe offer some money for his troubles, much less hassle and money than it would be to pay the ticket, especially if demerits are involved, (which they shouldn't be, because you were not moving, the e-brake was even on). With my dvd player even when the car is off the e-brake must be on for me to watch a movie, it is illegal to to install a screen in the front without this feature. They would have to prove that this feature was removed, (which they can't), and that you had actually broken a law, (which you didn't.)

You should not have to pay a penny, if you do I would raise a shit storm.

Keep us updated.

[Thaco]

tell the JP you just started the car because the battery was dying and you didn't wanna miss the end of the movie :P

[ninspeed]

Was it the stock indash DVD player, or aftermarket?

[afrotl]

Fight it all the way...when I had my DVD installed I specifically did ask and so far as you are not in motion you can have it playing. This is your defence,
1 you were parked and not in motion
2 it was not your car so you did not know how to turn it off when he asked you to
3 You were driving cos your buddies were drunk and you had to drive your buddies car.
4 Also add that the DVD only plays when ythe car is in park and the e-brake is on.

Good luck

[Tyler883]

I agree, how can anything be a driver distraction if the vehicle isn't in motion?!?!?!?

I think this is as silly as charging someone that pulls over to the side of the road to make a cellphone call.

In fact, why couldn't this be your way of appealing to the county prosecuter to drop the charges?

[Zero102]

That ticket is a bunch of crap. As already mentioned, most in-dash DVD players are setup such that they can only play when the vehicle is in park (or the E-brake is on for standard vehicles). If you got really desperate, I guess you could pop it in drive, and that should have shut it off, but hind-sight is 20-20.

If you were in park, which I rather suspect you were, then that charge does not apply. And the ticket should be thrown out. This pisses me off too!

[Xtrema]

No good deeds goes unpunished. Your friend owe you a big one. I'll say he should sell you the 'lade for 1/2 market value. :D

[Davide]

well it would seem that I've been convicted, and I got 30 days to appeal, Why you ask? Apparently I was supposed to show up at the morning trial, when in fact I showed up for the 1pm trial (which I'll even swear on the bible was the time).

BTW: Apparently the cop showed up, so the prosecutor told the judge that I was wasting taxpayer's money and that I "decided" to show at "MY convenience"


Sad part about all this shit? I still haven't had a chance to say anything in my defence! Does anyone know a good lawyer?

[lastprodigy]

hmm i havent gotten trouble for it in over a year that ive had it....

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by Davide
well it would seem that I've been convicted, and I got 30 days to appeal, Why you ask? Apparently I was supposed to show up at the morning trial, when in fact I showed up for the 1pm trial (which I'll even swear on the bible was the time).

BTW: Apparently the cop showed up, so the prosecutor told the judge that I was wasting taxpayer's money and that I "decided" to show at "MY convenience"


Sad part about all this shit? I still haven't had a chance to say anything in my defence! Does anyone know a good lawyer?

Go down to the Rocky Mountain Plaza, grab an appeal form slap it against the window and tell them that they're wasting Tax Payers dollars and your time with stupid ass charges like this one!

But really, don't do that...instead, here's a tactful way to approach it ;)

Fill out an appeal, take it to the Justice of the Peace and wait for their letter. In the appeal, you simply state why you didn't show up to the trial. If it's because of legitimate reasons then they'll schedule a new trial. Simple as that :thumbsup: But if they don't grant you an appeal, you may have to go speak to them personally so you can get your point across and explain it more thoroughly. Most of the time they're pretty good at granting another trial, just make sure you write down everything clearly.

Hope this helps man. :thumbsup:

[GTS Jeff]

In this case, you don't want to appeal it, you want to apply to have the conviction set aside.

Download this form:

http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/pc/traffic/J1931.pdf

Fill it out, and return it to the Justice of the Peace. When you go to trial, make a damned good case.

[eblend]

Originally posted by Davide
another thing was, when I went to plead not guilty I seen the officers half of the ticket, and there were some notes that he wrote on this blank section. I was almost tempted to ask what he had wrote, personally I think those notes should be on both copies.




you do have the full rights to the notes the officer wrote on his side of the ticket. Go into the rocky mountain plaza and ask where the disclosure office is, go up there and tell em u want a copy of the disclosure for the ticket, they make a copy and u pick it up a few days later, and that copy is the exact copy of the officers side of the ticket, and u are entitled to it free of charge

[Davide]

Originally posted by LUDELVR

Fill out an appeal, take it to the Justice of the Peace and wait for their letter. In the appeal, you simply state why you didn't show up to the trial. If it's because of legitimate reasons then they'll schedule a new trial. Simple as that :thumbsup:

Hope this helps man. :thumbsup:

I did all of that, the same time I was there and I got denied another trial, which is what I was explaining above: they said that I was wasting taxpayers dollars and what not.


But if they don't grant you an appeal, you may have to go speak to them personally so you can get your point across and explain it more thoroughly. Most of the time they're pretty good at granting another trial, just make sure you write down everything clearly. How would I go about speaking to them personally, cause really, I got 30 days and this would be a shit way to start a record

Thanks for all the support and advice guys:thumbsup:

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by Davide


I did all of that, the same time I was there and I got denied another trial, which is what I was explaining above: they said that I was wasting taxpayers dollars and what not.

How would I go about speaking to them personally, cause really, I got 30 days and this would be a shit way to start a record

Thanks for all the support and advice guys:thumbsup:

Going in personally involves going to the Justice of the Peace counter. I won't lie that this is a lengthy process because 1. You'll have to first wait in line to see the JP and this line can be anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour. From there, you'll need to explain to them what happened and then if they will listen to reason, you may still have to wait in line to see one of the Crown Prosecutors...it's on the left of the JP's and there's another shit load of people waiting there. This is where they will either say yay of nay. To tell you the truth man, I'm not sure where it can go from there if they reject you...I've never had to go much further than that!! haha, sorry man!

Just be prepared to waste an entire day and don't plan anything cuz I made the mistake thinking that it would take a short time...boy was I wrong!!:rolleyes: :thumbsdow

[BlueGoblin]

I take it to mean that when you went in in the afternoon, you filled out the affadavit to set aside a conviction and subsequently had that turned down.

If that's the case, your only recourse is to attempt to appeal it to Summary Conviction Appeals at the Court of Queen's Bench. You do not necessarily need a lawyer to do this, but you definitely -at a minimum- need to do some research on what you are doing and how to do it. Probably more importantly first off, find out if you have any legal grounds for appeal. QB does not have to hear your appeal - you have to be given leave to appeal by the court first. You need to have a legal basis of appeal; that you didn't like the first judge's ruling is not enough.

[CalgarySupra]

thats adumb ticket, many new cars have gps map showed on therfe all the time even in motion. dont worry