Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 26, 2013 - 10:45pm PT
As if I didn't have enough problems.
I got a letter from the San Bernardino County Court today
saying I have a warrant for my arrest for failure to appear
on a traffic ticket I got about 5 months ago.
WTF, I paid the fine 3 weeks after I got the ticket.
Thank goodness I thought. I still have the receipt.
I went to the courthouse from the Post Office and talked with the clerk,
showed her the receipt and initial citation letter and the the letter I
got today and and she tells me The cite numbers don't match up and
that I had gotten 2 different tickets. I then started to see red
and told her I have had only one traffic stop in the last 8 years
and that was the one I paid for! I told here to look up the second
ticket which she did and she said I was stopped TWICE in one day
within a FOUR minute period In my Toyota truck AND a Toyota Camry
in the same place and for the same infraction.
WTF!!!
She says she can't clear it and she has to research what happened.
and I will have to wait. WTF???!!! Can't she see a mistake was made.
She says she can't take the warrant off till it is cleared up,
So meanwhile, If I get stopped before it gets cleared up, I get arrested!!!
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 26, 2013 - 08:12pm PT
"In the meantime make sure to keep the original citation and receipt of payment on you at all times. "
The Problem is; On my receipt the cite number was for the Toyota Camry
ticket.
Just keep calling the courthouse and make sure it gets cleared up. Then get it in writing and keep it with you.
Also keep the reciept for the ticket. If you get stopped explain it to the officer .. they probably won't take you to jail once they confirm the story.
She said she was going to call me, Norton. within a couple of hours.
Never did hear from her. I am going to take time off from work tomorrow.
and go back to the courthouse and demand that this be taken care of right away so I don't run the risk of being arrested.
This is fukked because with only me working I can't afford to take time off
from work for this kind of BS!
Have you ever tried calling the Courthouse, Ski?
I'd probably be on the phone waiting for a clerk longer than
going in and waiting in line at the courthouse.
and go back to the courthouse and demand that this be taken care of right away so I don't run the risk of being arrested
My advice, based on experience is to be very polite. Do not piss anyone off or your risk of being arrested could become a very immediate issue.
I got in a snafu like this with the court in Ridgecrest. Got a fixit ticket up there on a weekend. Back in LA, got it fixed, inspected by CHP, sent in the paperwork all the T's crossed. Got a notice a year later it had gone to warrant. When I went up there to straighten it out it was a nervy deal. Be real smooth when your walkin' around in a courthouse while there's a warrant out in your name.
I might get TAZED tomorrow when I refuse to leave the clerks
window till this thing is cleared up or at least get the warrant dropped
till this fukkin mess they created gets taken care of.
Oh and don't trust them that they cleared it up once they say it's cleared up.. get it in writing and keep in on you for a while.. then call back a week later and see if there is still a warrent out.
Never trust em to get things right. Learned the hard way.
once it gets into the computer, it is something that needs to be handled by you and the stupid people who use this computer everyday,
frustrating? you bet,
one time i did a weekend work program for a DUI.
picked up trash every sunday in sanborn park near saratoga for 6 weeks,
completed the hassle,
6 months later a sheriff comes to my door with a warrant, saying i did not complete the program,talked myself out of the arrest, then went about clearing up the mess,
went back to the park, ranger had transferred to the east bay, he was the only guy who could clear me, sanborn park gave me his name, i got his phone number, called him up, he remembered me, told the cops that i did the program and the matter was dismissed.
problem is when the screw up is embedded in the computer, it can not be fixed without going thru the motions, your lack of guilt is on you to prove, as far as they are concerned, you got 2 tickets,
nothing good can come out of this except relief when you get it fixed, they ain't gonna pay you for your time or hassle, they may not even say that they are sorry,
just lump it in with all of life's other hassles and forget that it just happens to involve the cops,
make sure that the DMV is notified so that you do not get another point,
what a hassle, i feel for ya, don't get stressed, just do extra medication so you forget about it sooner,
makes a good story at the campfire when the subject is trouble,
I am looking at the citation numbers now, and they are the same except the last number which is only 1 number different. and only 4 minutes different
How can I be in 2 vehicles at the same location and only 4 minutes apart?
The only thing I can think of is when I was flagged down, as he already
had someone else stopped for the same infraction, and he flagged another vehicle down after he stopped me, that maybe the Deputy entered my info,
on one one of the other drivers tickets he had pulled over.
Edit: I have both citation numbers because I asked for copies of both of them from the clerk.
Cosmic, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. Anything involving the law can be scary. It's obvious that it is a mistake, and it will be resolved in your favor. But the advice to stay calm and polite is the best course of action. You really should be able to resolve this in one visit. Someone should have the power to fix the mistake immediately - you just have to find out who is the right person to talk to, and see if you can get in to see that person.
My parents got a $60 parking ticket in SF for a car that WAS NOT THEIRS at a time and date that they could prove (through hotel and food receipts) that they were in Pismo Beach. The Prix wouldn't budge until they called in the 7 on Your Side dude.
This seeeeems to have been a mistake made by the citing officer.
He motioned CC over to the roadside after he stopped the mysterious White Car, could-be-Camry. So these two clowns were pulled over, a truck came along, and it, too, was flagged and ticketed.
He may have had a Camry pulled over first, CC is not sure what make/model of White Car it was. The problem seems to be that this Camry's info is crossed up somehow with Cosmic's license and the registration of the Camry, if indeed, it was a Camry. Of this, CC is not sure.
I can predict what the officer's response to questioning on this would be: a shrug, 'i don't know,' and a case dismissed. I can't see how a judge could be such a bastard as to let the citation stand, especially in view of Cosmic's unblemished past record, and the officer's lack of memory or plain evasion of truth...
Then he had to write not just two, but three citations, one after the next.
It's easy to deduct or to assume his zeal led to an error of some kind.
This is my take. There are other possibilities, but they are remote in comparison to the zealot's, if indeed it was his fault. I'd be willing to bet this is the situation, or near to it.
Of course, paying is not an option for our man. He is not guilty, so why should he pay? If he has to get lawyered up, I will be astounded.` But if he loses, not only will he have to pay the fine, accept points against his licensing, and then pay Shyster fees, on top.
So it's worth it for him to go sit at the clerk's office until the issue gets resolved.
Don't let the bastards wear you down, Cosmic.
And don't the the bastards wear your tie-dye, either.
Whatever hppens this all makes for a good soap opera. Hardly a crime drama.
My uncle had the same thing happen to him twice...The first time 2 cops tried to arrest him at home as he sat down to dinner..He told them he'd go with them after he finished eating but the cops grabbed him and were soon on the ground seeing stars...Never try to arrest a hungry prize fighter at dinner time...My uncle's manager straightened things out with a false arrest lawsuit when a clerical error created another visit by the fuzz...Good luck Cosmic...Don't let them ruffle your feathers...
If the first ticket was for a car you do not own/did not drive why did you pay it? They may see that as an admission of guilt. I hope it works out Cosmic that is a tough situation. I feel for ya.
This BOLO just came over the radio here in Mono County:
"Attention all units, BOLO for a White Toyota Pick-up with business logo on the doors, smoke pouring from the windows, driver wearing extremely loud tie-dye, looking completely bewildered. Wanted in Southern California for FTA....and being a complete noob."
"This seeeeems to have been a mistake made by the citing officer."
Not a mistake.
Sloppy, lazy, willful failure to do his goddamn job is what was done here. And he should be fired immediately.
When someone's freedom and liberty is in YOUR hands, you check - you double check - and then you check again BEFORE setting the legal shithammer in motion.
We pay these guys a good six-figure paycheck, and when they're done, we provide them with a millionaire's pension. There is absolutely NO excuse for not doing his job.
The cop's signature on the ticket(s) was signed under penalty of perjury. NO mistakes allowed. ( how understanding are they if you sign your name to an inaccurate loan application? ) Forgiveness only upon asking, and then only after proper penance is performed.
Meh.. what a f*#king hassle. Keep a cool head.. be persistent and find the person who can fix it. ... in your copious free time.. driving two different vehicles in two alternate universes at once.
Red: [narrating] There's a con like me in every prison in America, I guess. I'm the guy who can get it for you. Cigarettes, a bag of reefer if you're partial, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your kid's high school graduation. Damn near anything, within reason.
Red: [narrating] The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind from that delousing sh#t they throw on you, and when they put you in that cell... and those bars slam home... that's when you know it's for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.
I wonder how you managed to drive two cars at once. I have heard that some people can be in two places at once, but usually they're not anywhere at all. Was that tie-dye camo?
Clerks can not fix stuff like that, quickest fix is getting to a judge. Not sure how it works in San Berndardino, but usually you just go in the morning and ask to get on the calendar. Plan on being there until lunch. I am sure a judge would toss the Camry ticket, in any event the judge would recall the warrant.
Another option is contacting the LE department that wrote the ticket, they can dismiss it
If I was the judge and it got in front of me I would order the officer to appear in court and explain it. Of course that is exactly why they will never let me near a gavel and robe!
"If the first ticket was for a car you do not own/did not drive why did you pay it? They may see that as an admission of guilt."
The thing is, I got 2 letters within days, from the court right after I first got the ticket. I just figured they just double mailed me.
Both were for the same bail amount and at a glance both cite numbers were the same except for the last number which I didn't notice at the time,
so I just took one of the bail letters to the court to pay the fine.
Unfotunatly the letter I took to the court was for the camry.
On the bail letter there was no mention of the type of vehicle, just the bail and the info on how to pay and info on a court hearing if I wanted to see the judge.
I didn't want to spend the time to see the judge because I was guilty of not doing the right turn only so I just paid the fine and figured it was over.
Another option is contacting the LE department that wrote the ticket, they can dismiss it
Because he paid someone else's ticket, he will still have to get that straightened out, have that payment transferred to his account, as well as getting the warrent dismissed. Can the police manage all that from their computers or has it gone to a higher power at this point. not simple!
A few months ago I got a parking ticket on my RV for parking in a temporary no parking zone. the public works dept were doing something and they had put up the no parking signs. However I had parked the RV in the late afternoon, and they put up the signs after I parked. Since parking on our streets is legal for 36 hours, The publics works is supposed to to put the signs up 36 hours in advance... I had a ticket less than 24 hours after I parked my RV.
I went to the police station and told them the time line and they called the ticketing officer on the phone and also called public works and were able to dismiss it then and there.
But it's true that any police staff will be able to see what happened in cosmic's case. Whether or not they have the power to fix ALL of this mess, I don't know.
Dwain,
You can go directly to the County Court house and have this resolved.
You will need to schedule and appearance before the magistrate and have documentation.
Show up at the courthouse when they open in order to see the Judge the same day.
Well just got back from the courthouse.
They dropped the warrant and failure to appear charge and transferred my fine payment to the toyota truck.
Now I have to go back to see a judge next week on the camry to have them dismiss the charge on that ticket.
Before I went to the court I stopped by the Sheriffs department and got copies of both tickets to bring to the court. My name is at the top of both tickets but the signatures at the bottom are different.
The toy truck has my sig and the camry has someone elses sig.
The Deputy can't dismiss the ticket because it has already gone
thru the court system so I have to go see the judge to get it dismissed.
Royal FUKUP on their part and I'm the one who has to jump thru all the hoops, take time off from work losing money and wasting gas to get it fixed!!!
I've already lost a couple hundred dollars in work the last 2 days because of this.
All it takes is the word of some highly suspect sheriff or cop to get you
into this pile of doo-doo but funny how their word can't get you out of it.
Didn't Joseph Heller write a book about this?
The state courts seem to treat everyone like crap now. It is a budget issue. The budgets have been cut over and over and I get the impression that part of the court's strategy was to piss off the public until there was a public outcry to restore funding. Not happening.
What used to take days to process now takes weeks before a clerk even looks at it.
Cosmic, your lucky you did not get arrested when you went to get copies of the tickets. I am just half kidding when I say that!
Hey Jon.
I WAS worried when I went into the sheriffs dept.
but they would have looked really silly arresting me when they saw the 2 ticket with the almost same time stamps 2 vehicles and 2 different sigs
Good luck suing the county in their own superior court, it is playing a baseball game where the home team gets to make the rules and pick the umpires. In any event they have immunity for stupidity (negligence)
I just got back and saw this. I was going to send you an email, Dwain, but it seems like you've already done what I would have recommended.
I'm probably the only person on ST who has both sat as a judge pro tem in traffic court and spent time in custody. The courts right now are under tremendous financial stress, because cutting the clerk's office's budget is politically much more palatable than making some other cuts. The courts are having problems all over California. There's no malice, and no "I'm a government employee, so you can't fire me" involved. They're just plain swamped.
If anyone else finds themselves in Cosmic's position, the first thing to do is to remove the arrest warrant. Simultaneously, one should notify the DMV, preferably in writing, about this situation. Believe it or not, both the courts and the DMV will actually try to help someone who treats them with civility. Otherwise, you're violating Eleazarian's Commandment: "Thou shalt not piss off those that can help you."
If the situation is not resolved to your liking, Dwain, please email me and I'll do what I can to help.
Back in the late 70s when I was living in Ridgecrest,
I got a fix it ticket in the Lone Pine area. I fixed the tailight got it signed off and took the signoff and all the paperwork to the courthouse
up in Independance or Lone Pine. I can't remember which.
I got the court receipt and thought it was all done.
Nine months later I am stopped by the Ridgecrest Police because
I hadn't recieved my tag for my registration yet. And after the stop and me explaining that I hadn't recieved the tag yet but I had proof that I sent the payment off in time by my checkbook stub. He informed me I had a
warrant for my arrest on a ticket frome the LP area.
He arrested me and then I was transported up there and spent the weekend in jail.
When I saw the judge on monday,I told him I had taken care of it.
But I didn't have or know where the court receipt was so I had to pay the huge fine, get my car out of impound and all the other BS.
After that I have made sure I keep the receipts from the couple other
tickets I've had over the years.
Thank goodness I kept all that info and receipts in the truck in my glove compartment so I have some sort of proof that I paid my fines just so something like that wouldn't happen again.
Thank goodness I kept what Little info and receipts that I had
Or I would have been royally Screwed!
Politeness, patience, and persistence pays off in the end. Sucks that it happened, and sucks that you have to pay the price for someone else's mistake, but anything other than being polite and patient and persistent will make it worse.
Nine months later I am stopped by the Ridgecrest Police because
I hadn't recieved my tag for my registration yet. And after the stop and me explaining that I hadn't recieved the tag yet but I had proof that I sent the payment off in time by my checkbook stub. He informed me I had a
warrant for my arrest on a ticket frome the LP area.
He arrested me and then I was transported up there and spent the weekend in jail.
Cosmic, you get arrested, you call me and I'll come bail you out. Pretty sure I'm in your cell phone. I know you are in mine so I'll always take the call.
You can't get bail bonds for moving violations. I know I've tried.
I got the warrant and failure to appear dropped,Spider.
Now all I have to do is go to court next week to get the
Camry citation dropped, which wasn't me but my name was on the citation.
Hopefully it will all be taken care of then.
Thru all this I've been BESIDE myself with frustration, anger,
and trying to figure out how to fix this.
However, I have learned one IMPORTANT LESSON out of this;
NEVER, EVER, go straight, at a Right Turn Only,
in TWO Vehicles at the SAME time!!!!
^^^^^
Sorry Survival.
Don't have even close to that kind of money.
I'm sending most of my money back to Vegas to pay the bills.
Money is so short I have only been back to Vegas to see my wife
for 9 days since Jan 11.
What will $2.50 get me?
The guy in the camry probably didnt get the initial court bail letter because it was sent to me. I thought I just got double mailed with 2 bail letters. one mine and one his. Thats why I ended up paying the ticket on the camry and not my truck. I gave the wrong letter to the clerk whenI paid the fine
As you stated earlier, it pays to drive alert and don't violate traffic laws.
Also, never take a questionable parking place. Park smart.
I only exceed the speed limit on highways where it's safe enough and then never more than 9 miles over the posted limit. Stay alert and slow down when you see the man. Also, stick to the exact posted limit when traveling through small towns in Idaho.
As it is, I can never go back to Seattle. Not that I would want to.
I only exceed the speed limit on highways where it's safe enough and then never more than 9 miles over the posted limit
Ho, man, 9 over? You call yerself a Californicator? If I tell Uncle Stirling
that he might die laughing. The second day that Mt St Helens blew we were
coming back from City of the Rocks and I picked up two speedos in a couple of hours.
"Damn, officer, we're just trying to get home alive!"
I have had the best results by staying 2 to 3 over the limit. Seems it's not enough to pull you over but it perhaps shows that you aren't worried about them either.
I got pulled over doing 40 in a 50 zone. Cop told me that is one of the first things they look for in regards to drunk drivers, going too slow.
I was doing it to save gas as I was almost out and I had been drinking, had an open container but he was apparently hypnotized by the climbing gear in the bed of my truck.
Lol at your comment about the BS life occasionally throws at ya. Never quite thought of it that way. Morbid a bit but I suppose there's a silver lining in everything.
Let us know!