Charged with Failure to Yield to pedestrian - please help (Montclair: fit in, lawyer)

[aryaanp]

Thank you all for the responses. Does the presence of a witness (co-passenger)make my case stronger in any respect?

[HalfFull]

How'd you do in court?

[rscalzo]

Does the presence of a witness (co-passenger)make my case stronger in any respect?

No way of knowing that. It depends on the quality of their testimony and the judge. Each judge and each court is different so what happens in one court means nothing to another.

[Hoboker]

So I have a very interesting post with some very good questions... A few weeks ago I was leaving my now ex-students' graduation in a town in Essex County, NJ and was driving down the road entering the neighboring town. There were officers directing traffic and pedestrians at all intersections near the graduation, and when I got about 3 blocks away into the next town I could see police cars and construction vehicles several blocks ahead with their lights flashing. In between both of these locations, I was a part of a line of cars and we were all passing through an intersection with a traffic light (it was green for us of course) and had a crosswalk. A uniformed officer was standing in the middle of the street just over the double yellow line on the other side of the road and appeared to be there for the function of directing traffic/pedestrians since nobody would be or should be crossing the street with a red light as per the law. He allowed all the cars in front of me to pass by him, and then pulled me over and gave me a ticket for 2 points and claimed I failed to yield to a pedestrian (he claimed that he was the pedestrian).

I took this to court to contest it since I know the laws in NJ very well, and plead not guilty and said that I am taking this to trial. They heard all other 200 or so people in the room before finally calling me up dead last about 3.5 hours later. They said they had to reshedule my trial for another day due to the fact that the officer showed up but had other duties to attend to in 30 minutes. I told them this imposed a tremendous hardship on me as it is difficult for me to take off of work and I don't get a salary in what I do and lose a lot of money by taking time off. They didn't care at all, and I was even rudely laughed at for making this statement.

I kept my composure and was as polite as can be and was one of only 3 people out of the 200+ people that wore a suit to court. They asked the nature of my defense so they could work on the case before I got there for the trial in 3 weeks, and after stating my case that I had a green light and that the officer was illegally crossing the street against a red light in his direction. The judge made a remark that this seems to be a matter of opinion as to who says the light was red or green (keep in mind there were several other cars going through the intersection and the officer gave me a ticket for not yielding to a pedestrian, not for going through a red light, and he was in the middle of the road while all the cars in front of me proceeded through the intersection). How can this possibly be a matter of opinion when the facts and laws are very clear about who had the right of way and that the "pedestrian" was not supposed to cross at the intersection? Further, he was not on my half of the street, which is proven since I was in the center fast lane, and he would have been struck my myself or the cars ahead of me if he had been on our half of the street. The law also says that you only have to yield to a pedestrian if they are on your half of the road and within one lane of where you are located. I'm keeping that in my back pocket for now though.

The final straw of the day was when the prosecutor walked behind me and leaned into me and called me a "F-ing Wise-a$" under his breath for no apparent reason. That came out of left field as I was fully respectful and polite the entire time, and I think he was just annoyed that I was the only person that day that decided to take my case to trial, or perhaps he was trying to get a rise out of me so I would have an outburst and get thrown out of the courtroom along with my case. I chose to ignore that comment and don't think the judge heard it, and took the new date to appear 3 weeks later.

My new court date for the trial is in 3 weeks. Any suggestions as to how I should handle this properly? Should I just explain what transpired in detail and then ask permission to ask the officer a series of very relavent questions about what happened that day and citing the law to prove my case in the appropriate parts?

Right now I get the impression that this town is very crooked in the way they handle traffic court and see it as a tremendous way to generate revenue for the town. They have even set up areas where they set up traps and have people/officers step into the road as cars are driving by, and then pull the drivers over claiming they didn't stop for a pedestrian. Even though I'm clearly right with the law on my side, I feel as if I'm up against a crooked system that just wants my money at any cost. What can I do?

[ocnjgirl]

I don't know all your details, but if officers are directing traffic, it doesn't matter if the light is green or red. The police are there because they are directing the flow of traffic, not the light, for the duration of however long the incident they are there for lasts.

[Hoboker]

The details are really very simple, he was not directing traffic (other officers several blocks away were directing traffic), but was claiming to be acting as a pedestrian and was crossing the street at the intersection when he had a red light and myself and other drivers had a green light for a while. He was present in the middle of the road at for a while before I got there (I saw him there when the car 4 ahead of me passed through the intersection). He did not ticket me for going through a red light because the light was green for me. He gave me a ticket for not yielding to a pedestrian, which is completely wrong since he tried crossing the street with a red light in his direction and I had the right of way.

I know that what he did is actually a ticketable offense, and I'm sure he would have given a pedestrian a ticket for "not yielding to a vehicle" if they were crossing at an intersection with a red light for the pedestrian.

Any new thoughts now that I cleared it up a bit?

[Hoboker]

One last thing... Was I correct in not drawing attention to the fact that the prosecutor swore at me in under his breath in the middle of the courtroom? I think he was annoyed that I was the only person bringing my case to trial, and also possibly he was trying to get me to react back with some outburst toward him that the judge would hear. How can his behavior be allowed in court? Its funny because he lectured everyone earlier on respecting the court by dressing properly and by speaking respectfully and with proper language, and then he curses at me a short while later.....

[steel7]

Judges & cops should be more monitored. The prosecutor sounds like a jerk. Whats his/her name ?

[Hoboker]

The town is Montclair, NJ and you can easily find out who the prosecutor is if you do the right search on google for "Montclair NJ prosecutor". He was a huge jerk and for no reason as I was completely polite and respectful. I don't feel as if it will be a fair trial with him on the other side after that he made that surprising comment to me in court...

The judge seemed like a decent and somewhat fair guy, but you never know how things will turn out. He seemed like he didn't want to let this go even after hearing my story and facts and said it seems to be a matter of opinion. Not sure how it's up to opinions if it was clear I had a green light, especially since the officer didn't write me a ticket for going through a red light or put anything in his notes about going through a red light since it did not happen...

[stevemorse]

Listen stick up for your rights. These cops are totally out of control lately. They are all mad , and seems like they are taking it out on good citizens. I have heard tons of stories lately like yours. These babies are so upset that they lost their little buddies due to layoffs maybe and or a cut or freeze or cant get a big pay out. You need to fight!! Do your best! Its crooked, but maybe we can SPEAK UP!!