[quote=partypup]SDowner: I am a lawyer, but I am not going to dispense legal advice in this matter. I will, however, give you some food for thought.
There is no due process whatsoever when you receive a citation based on a red light camera. What do I mean by this? Due process requires an established course for judicial proceedings or other governmental activities designed to safeguard the legal rights of the individual. That necessarily implies the the right to be told of the crime being charged.
However, if you never respond to the citation, due process is lacking and you cannot, therefore, be prosecuted for this infraction. Law enforcement agencies and courts are aware of this basic and fundamental legal fact. But they choose not to share it with the motoring public. Instead, most people receive a citation, instantly get nervous and respond, thereby guaranteeing that they will be prosecuted.
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Well you got one part right, the traffic court system designed by city and police have ZERO respect for due process because they don’t have to worry about silly like things like the BAR code. Even traffic judges violate due process because 99.9% of the time a lawyer is not present and they have the “you little guilty people” attitude.
Here’s how this criminal conspiracy hurts people. Friend got a letter from his insurance company informing him that they canceled his policy because his CA driver’s license was revoked. Luckily they did not put out a bench warrant. Turns out there was a red light violation in Sacramento and the police or court transposed number, sent ticket to right person but recorded violation on my friend’s license. My friend has never been to Sacramento and was able to getting the mistake fixed without going to Sacramento for the trial, but he was lucky to get it resolved without paying $300/hr for a lawyer. The police could have said tough luck. The DMV could have said ok, but we are still going to show suspension on your file. The insurance company could still say your license was revoked and not insure him. When you fill out form that asks if your license has ever been revoked how do you answer?
Know another person who got a ticket for infraction in Orange County. The officer either didn’t get a DL or good ID, license plate, but my colleague got the ticket here in San Diego. So he has to go to court for appearance and declare not guilty and then judge thinking that “everyone lies and all those Asian gang bangers in Santa Ana are guilty”, scheduled a court date. My colleague was able to get a note from employer stating he was working in San Diego that day and bring that to second appearance for actual trial. And of course the judge was rude again for “wasting his time”, but did dismiss the case. So two days wasted and treated like a criminal by the court system. Had he not shown up for court he would have had a bench warrant. So don’t ever ignore citations, especially the one you don’t get!
