Does the officer who took your statement have to be the one who tickets you?

[bunny_power]

I've got a trial date coming up for a failure to yield ticket and I'm just covering off all of my bases, and who better to ask than some LEOs.

What happened:
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97354&highlight=failure+yield

The question here is that the officer who I spoke to was not the guy who issued the ticket, it went something like this (cliffs notes version):

- Partners (veteran and rookie) witness "offense", stop is made.
- Veteran questioned me and took my info while rookie inspected my bumper.
- Veteran goes back to cruiser while rookie demands my passenger's (wife's) ID.
- Rookie goes back to cruiser, writes ticket, returns my ID and issues ticket to me.
- Veteran returns wife's ID.

Now, since they pulled a switcheroo while ticketing, if the young guy shows up at the trial and tries to cite his notes regarding anything that I might have said to the other officer is that testimony admissable or does he have to have some sort of official document signed by the veteran officer?

Not exactly standard procedure for a two man stop, can you guys shed some light? Thanks.

 

[Elliotness]

I've got a trial date coming up for a failure to yield ticket and I'm just covering off all of my bases, and who better to ask than some LEOs.

What happened:
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97354&highlight=failure+yield

The question here is that the officer who I spoke to was not the guy who issued the ticket, it went something like this (cliffs notes version):

- Partners (veteran and rookie) witness "offense", stop is made.
- Veteran questioned me and took my info while rookie inspected my bumper.
- Veteran goes back to cruiser while rookie demands my passenger's (wife's) ID.
- Rookie goes back to cruiser, writes ticket, returns my ID and issues ticket to me.
- Veteran returns wife's ID.

Now, since they pulled a switcheroo while ticketing, if the young guy shows up at the trial and tries to cite his notes regarding anything that I might have said to the other officer is that testimony admissable or does he have to have some sort of official document signed by the veteran officer?

Not exactly standard procedure for a two man stop, can you guys shed some light? Thanks.

The rookie officer #2 can write you a citation based on his FTO's (officer #1's) statement.

I don't know how traffic court works but I can tell you that your statements to officer #1 would not be admissable in a FED court unless officer #1 was present. The statements would be considered hearsay unless officer #2 witnessed the statements. This is a trial? If it's a trial an affidavit from officer #1 will not suffice. You are entitled to cross-examine witnesses to dispute their testimony; therefore a simple written affidavit will not suffice.

 

[bunny_power]

The rookie officer #2 can write you a citation based on his FTO's (officer #1's) statement.

I don't know how traffic court works but I can tell you that your statements to officer #1 would not be admissable in a FED court unless officer #1 was present. The statements would be considered hearsay unless officer #2 witnessed the statements. This is a trial? If it's a trial an affidavit from officer #1 will not suffice. You are entitled to cross-examine witnesses to dispute their testimony; therefore a simple written affidavit will not suffice.

Thanks! Yes, this is the trial and what you said is basically what I suspected. I appreciate the response because I haven't been able to get much of a straight answer out of some LEOs I know locally because its a bit of an odd situation and none of them have been through something like this.

 

[Lawman85]

Thanks! Yes, this is the trial and what you said is basically what I suspected. I appreciate the response because I haven't been able to get much of a straight answer out of some LEOs I know locally because its a bit of an odd situation and none of them have been through something like this.

They haven't been through anything like that? Wow... we do that all the time.

There is case law that says if Officer A gathers information and gives it to Officer B, then it is the same as if Officer B gathers it himself.

 

[EvergreenSVT]

Lawman, in some states only the officer who sees the offense can ticket for it. State law. In my state it is legal for an officer to write an infraction for an offense another officer saw. He signs the ticket, and signs it for the witnessing officer, if he is not present. Both appear in court.

However, notice that the original poster is in Edmonton. All bets are off.

 

[bunny_power]

Lawman, in some states only the officer who sees the offense can ticket for it. State law. In my state it is legal for an officer to write an infraction for an offense another officer saw. He signs the ticket, and signs it for the witnessing officer, if he is not present. Both appear in court.

However, notice that the original poster is in Edmonton. All bets are off.

Yup, land of the free, home of the frigging freezing.

The reason I asked the question initially wasn't because I'm concerned about the legality of the ticket. I know that the rookie could have issued it because he probably witnessed the event. I was concerned about what sort of evidence he could present in court beyond him simply stating what he saw.

For example, I explained to the FTO that I couldn't see the fire truck before I entered the intersection, that the truck didn't turn its siren on until I was abreast of it, and that the drivers who were ahead of me didn't react either, so I had no warning at all. He said ok, and went back to the cruiser, but I wouldn't be surprised if the young fellow might claim from his notes that I made some sort of admission of guilt to his FTO and I wanted to know what kind of documentation he needed to back that up (besides having the FTO in attendance).

 

[Lawman85]

Lawman, in some states only the officer who sees the offense can ticket for it. State law. In my state it is legal for an officer to write an infraction for an offense another officer saw. He signs the ticket, and signs it for the witnessing officer, if he is not present. Both appear in court.

However, notice that the original poster is in Edmonton. All bets are off.

I believe the case law about officers sharing info is a US Supreme Court ruling. I saw the Edmonton thing, I know nothing about their laws there. We use the law alot for speeding. We will have one officer working a radar/laser gun on a bridge or overpass and call out the speeding cars to guys down the road. They stop the cars and issue tickets based on what the other officer saw. They both go to court.

 

[bunny_power]

I believe the case law about officers sharing info is a US Supreme Court ruling. I saw the Edmonton thing, I know nothing about their laws there. We use the law alot for speeding. We will have one officer working a radar/laser gun on a bridge or overpass and call out the speeding cars to guys down the road. They stop the cars and issue tickets based on what the other officer saw. They both go to court.

Thanks. :thumbsup:

 

[fishin-nole]

(note to self): Avoid Powder Springs.

 

[Lawman85]

(note to self): Avoid Powder Springs.

:lol:

You would have to avoid most of Georgia for that. We write a lot of speeding tickets and still have a lot of fatality wrecks. Dangerous place to drive around here....