Police infringement disputes

[entscheidend 0]

Hi All

My wife was pregnant with our 2nd child and unfortuntely had a misscarraige so I choose to rush her to Northshore hospital about a month ago myself.

I have a radar detector but didnt stop in time where a cop had his radar gun on me, we were stressed out because she was bleeding (wont go into details fella's) on my seat and in pain etc .... I was pulled over of course doing 119km on the Northwestern.

He didnt even give a F*** as to what was going on so I got booked for the offence ... fair enough hes doing his job.

So I sent a letter to explain why I was speeding at that speed ... as it states to do

I got a response back from them saying I shouldnt have been speeding at that speed, nothing about that I should have taken a ambulance or anything or acknowledged what happened ... just that the speed was too high.

Man I was pissed, must be a computer generated letter .. has anyone sent a letter to them or is there a loop hole iM missing here??

[TronSpec 0]

Dude I've written heaps of bullshit letters and got off.........

What happens is when you send your letter in they ask the cop that gave you the tickets srtory. I think I've being lucky as the cops obviously hasn't remembered what actually happened.

f**k mate I'm suprised you were even going that slow nahmean? f**k if I was in your situation I would made him chase me all the way to the hospital then he'd realise the seriousness of the situation

Edited February 21, 2007 by TronSpec

[bravo 34]

You could try the media - it prob won't work, as either the public will say "speeding is speeding - take an ambulance", or the cops will do their usual "we don't cave to media pressure" bollocks, but then again it may work - human interest story with reminiscing of halcyon days where the cop would actually give you a envoy to the hospital.

[lidistick 70]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Here's what I'd do.

Go to the media.

That's called being heartless. He could have at least offered to escort you to hospital with lights and sirens. I believe he also had to exceed the speed limit to catch you and I believe they are only allowed to exceed the limit if it is a matter of priority. Catching someone speeding isn't.

Re write your letter and forward it to the police complaints authority and Campbell Live or CloseUp.

Good luck.

And the new Stalker instant on will usually get you.

[Nobimmer 694]

I've honestly always wondered what would happen if say there was an emergency and you had to rush someone to hospital due to ambulances taking f**ken ages to arrive.But I always thought that the cop would have a tiny bit of leniance (sp) and would see what the situation is and f**k off.But I always wondered with situations such as broken limbs,after a scrap etc etc..never a miscariage which is a tad worse than both put together!

[westy 614]

You could wait for a court summons and plead not guilty.

Edit for crap post.

There are ways of disputing the ticket.

Read the back of the ticket,it should tell you how to go about it & get legal advice.

Edited February 21, 2007 by DirtySix

[330itis 15]

holy sh*t thats cold man. wat a F*cking kunt! theres such a huge difference from cop to cop. thts really bad luck you had to get an ass hole. bet you if you would hav goten a good cop he would have escorted you to the hospital straight away no questions asked.

if you get on like cambel live you would def get the ticket erased and if you take it to court you could get a bit of $$$

but the main thing here is the cop was a pric and shouldn have done that

[entscheidend 0]

holy sh*t thats cold man. wat a F*cking kunt! theres such a huge difference from cop to cop. thts really bad luck you had to get an ass hole. bet you if you would hav goten a good cop he would have escorted you to the hospital straight away no questions asked.

if you get on like cambel live you would def get the ticket erased and if you take it to court you could get a bit of $$$

but the main thing here is the cop was a pric and shouldn have done that

The cop that pulled me over said he will put a note on his system because of the emergency ... but yeah I thought he would have escorted me to the hospital down the bus lane or something.

I attached with my letter the discharge letter from Northshore hospital where it said blood loss etc .... and sent it to their Wellington office.

Now because their comment was "I was speeding too fast" they have referred it to the courts where I have to deal with them now and start again ...what a waste of time .. plus I got hung up on 2 times when trying to get my letter back to give to the courts (I did save a copy with hospital papers)

Even the courts think I have a good case and dont see what they problem was??

How do you get onto Campbell live?

[jpp 0]

You have your ideaology wrong, a miscarriage is no way near as important as a rugby match to be speeding over 100km/h.

IMO the cop should of escorted you! I don't know the full details, but I would of told the cop the situation, see what he said, and if he walked back to write you a ticket I would of said, give it to me at the hospital!

[entscheidend 0]

You have your ideaology wrong, a miscarriage is no way near as important as a rugby match to be speeding over 100km/h.

IMO the cop should of escorted you! I don't know the full details, but I would of told the cop the situation, see what he said, and if he walked back to write you a ticket I would of said, give it to me at the hospital!

I tried that JPP .. he didnt give a sh*t.

With your rugby match as more of importance ... to be honest with you guys I was more concerned about the mess my wife was causing to my leather seats!! haha

[BMW POWER 2]

My parents were in this situation with my brother 10 years ago.

Dad was doing 126 km/h, got pulled over by a cop. He explained the situation to the cop, he said he would call an ambulance but Dad said no way, so the cop escorted him the 20 odd km to the hospital. (Also made the front page of the ODT paper but thats a diff story)

If he didn't offer an ambulance or and excort you could try using that against him, and also playing with their "emotions" could work, state your loss and ask them if they have hearts.Perhaps signing it with your wifes name could pull the heart strings a bit.

Worth a shot I guess.I am sorry for your loss.

[M3_Power 636]

Without looking up case laws or the Statutes (sorry it's been soo long since I reviewed areas of Criminal Law) but I believe you have a good defence (under common law and possibly Statute) of necessity - or more specifically duress of circumstances. In lay person's term this is a defence that's invoked by pretty much saying "I had to do this or else". This is where a person is not held criminally responsibility for acts done under such circumstances of sudden and extraordinary emergency that a person of ordinary commonsense and prudence could not reasonably be expected to act otherwise.

A common example given (and there has been numerous case laws on this in New Zealand and many successful defence pleaded) is a case of a run away truck where the vehicle in front of the truck recognises the truck speeding up and is about to ram him, and without any other means of escape and with the possibility of serious accident or injury being caused the vehicle in front of the truck speeds up past a speed camera to avoid being rammed up the arse - the vehicle is given a speeding ticket but successfully pleads the defence of necessity or duress of circumstances.

In your situation your wife was bleeding ... a genuine case of emergency - it was more expedient to drive her to the hospital than wait for an ambulance - I would say you have a good case of pleading duress or circumstances under the defence of necessity (but of course cases like this are often "facts" dependent.

Good luck - I'd personally talk to the supervising officer or the JP at court if you fight the ticket - I think you'd have a good case.

Edited February 21, 2007 by M3_Power

[Guest Spargo]

You even stopped?

[entscheidend 0]

Without looking up case laws or the Statutes (sorry it's been soo long since I reviewed areas of Criminal Law) but I believe you have a good defence (under common law and possibly Statute) of necessity - or more specifically duress of circumstances. In lay person's term this is a defence that's invoked by pretty much saying "I had to do this or else". This is where a person is not held criminally responsibility for acts done under such circumstances of sudden and extraordinary emergency that a person of ordinary commonsense and prudence could not reasonably be expected to act otherwise.

A common example given (and there has been numerous case laws on this in New Zealand and many successful defence pleaded) is a case of a run away truck where the vehicle in front of the truck recognises the truck speeding up and is about to ram him, and without any other means of escape and with the possibility of serious accident or injury being caused the vehicle in front of the truck speeds up past a speed camera to avoid being rammed up the arse - the vehicle is given a speeding ticket but successfully pleads the defence of necessity or duress of circumstances.

In your situation your wife was bleeding ... a genuine case of emergency - it was more expedient to drive her to the hospital than wait for an ambulance - I would say you have a good case of pleading duress or circumstances under the defence of necessity (but of course cases like this are often "facts" dependent.

Good luck - I'd personally talk to the supervising officer or the JP at court if you fight the ticket - I think you'd have a good case.

Thanks M3, this gives me more confidence .. I will fight them

[M3_Power 636]

Or for a more recent (and well publicised) example of the defence being successfully envoked by a police officer (this was a defence of necessity case)

http://subs.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story...jectid=10401093

Policeman let off drink-driving charge

Email this storyPrint this story Wednesday September 13, 2006

By Jon Stokes

The sole charge Taranaki policeman charged with drink-driving after going to a fatal crash on his day off has been let off without conviction.

"You were dealing with an emergency," Judge Louis Bidois told Jonathan Erwood.

"You had to make a snap decision, effectively on the hoof."

Mr Erwood's supporters, packed into the New Plymouth District Court, burst into applause at the decision.

Mr Erwood, 37, the sole-charge officer in the small town of Mokau, was charged with drink-driving after he drove his police vehicle to the scene of a double fatality on July 9.

In court today, he pleaded guilty but was discharged without conviction.

He will also keep his driver's licence.

Mr Erwood attended the accident in which Clint Ratima, 32, of Aria, and New Plymouth physiotherapist Jennifer Trentham, 48, died.

Mrs Trentham's husband, Richard, was taken to Taranaki Hospital with serious injuries.

Mr Erwood - who was not on duty on the day of the accident - was breath-tested at the crash scene by a highway patrol officer who said he smelled alcohol on the constable's breath.

Blood testing allegedly revealed 106 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams.

The charge polarised the small township. Several people, including emergency workers who attended the accident, supported Mr Erwood, who is heavily involved in community clubs and events.

The case was clouded by the fact that Mr Erwood had played golf and was drinking with Mr Ratima before the accident. However, he was not present when Mr Ratima got into a car, drove north, failed to take a corner and hit the Trenthams.

Judge Bidois ruled that special circumstances applied in this case.

He told Mr Erwood: "You risked your career to attend the accident. Your instincts were to help."

The judge added: "For 16 years you have performed with distinction as a police officer. There will be a real risk you will lose your job if convicted. That decision is not for me.

"It would be, in my view, wrong, however.

"Police would have lost a good man and Mokau would be losing a very good police officer and a very strong member of the community."

Afterwards, a relieved Mr Erwood thanked his supporters and said he was looking to the future.

"I'm looking forward to moving on and getting on with it.

"That was stage one. I have stage two to deal with," he said, referring to an internal police disciplinary investigation, which is currently under way.

[kerrynzl 3]

Write a letter in such a way that it appears to be a complaint about the officer risking the lives of others due to Medical Emergency, Use the Medical report from the Hospital as evidence.

Now...Before you post the letter get it sworn by a JP [or better still get the courthouse to notorise it]This gives your letter Legal credibility

If you do use the Media, compare it with the Taranaki Cop that got DIC'd at a fatal accident [he got a commendation from the judge]

[cainchapman 0]

Agreed, I'd fight it. My condolences for the situation too.

I would not have considered stopping for a cop in the same scenario.

[entscheidend 0]

Thanks all fo ryour advice and support ... I will let you know how I got on

[ED1RTY 2]

Just read this, man sorry to hear about it all.

As cain said, if i was in that situation and one of my loved ones was bleeding to that extent i wouldnt have bothered stopping! From what ive read you will have a really good case. Dont let the cops walk all over you, stand up and fight for whats right.

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

My wife got off a speeding ticket by writing in. It was a few years back now so my memory of the details are rather sketchy, but basically it was a camera ticket (not a fixed camera) and she was in a line of cars all doing the same speed. A couple of years earlier she was a student and in the holidays they had students helping the cops out with road blocks to check WOF and rego. She took part. She learned a lot from that experience (like cops are 'boy racers' too - down some quiet back roads when there's no one around and other mischievous things) and she referred to things from it in her letter, and as a result she got a letter back to say they were not proceeding with the infringement.

I might be able to get a copy of the letter she wrote if you want to see it.

BTW, the last time I got a speeding ticket I wrote a letter too, but I did not get off mine. Still, that was not the point of my letter in that case, so I wasn't surprised I didn't get off it. Mine was more of a complaint. Also, a cop lives next door to me and he got a speeding ticket recently (while off duty). So yip, even off duty cops get caught and have to pay up.

P

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

You could try the media - it prob won't work, as either the public will say "speeding is speeding - take an ambulance", or the cops will do their usual "we don't cave to media pressure" bollocks, but then again it may work - human interest story with reminiscing of halcyon days where the cop would actually give you a envoy to the hospital.

I have email addresses for David Turner (TVNZ motorsports producer) and John Hudson (TVNZ journalist - "Sunday" programme fame) if you want to see if TVNZ are interested in this. In fact , John Hudson has interviewed me for TVNZ before - a nice guy.

P