You have now typed up your Informal Discovery and now need to deliver it to the arresting agency (the cops). I prefer to hand deliver. Reason is dealing with the cops and the courts is scary, it makes your heart palpitate. So to overcome my fear, I prefer to meet it head on. Plus it gives me a feeling of empowerment. And when I deliver the Proof of Service, I always have my voice recorder turned on just to record any kind of argument. When you deliver the POS, you are serving the cops...legally. When you deliver, you need to get the person's name who took the discovery and note the time. That has to be noted on the POS. Now if you can't deliver in person, you can also mail. But do it Certified. Then note the POS mailed through United States Post Office...and give the address.
You then take two copies of your informal discovery request along with 2 copies of your proof of service and deliver to the court clerk. The clerk is to stamp one copy and give back to you. One copy will go in the court file, that way the judge can see you requested the discovery; the other copy goes in your file in case you have to prove to the judge you requested and filed with the Courts.
Now study the Discovery. The things asked are really an excellent starting point for creating questions for the officer. It is best to try and come up with as many questions as possible. This is your opportunity to make the cop jump. You do not want to drop the hammer right away, you have to lay a "foundation."
I would recommend acquiring a copy of the California Vehicle Code book...they cost about $11.00 and can be purchased at the DMV. You can look things up on line, but I prefer the book. Mark prefers on line, but he is much more in tune with the laws and knows how to pinpoint exactly what he is looking for. Me, I end up weeding through too much on crap on the internet.
Also, the BOLT website is an excellent source of info. It is a bit hard to navigate , but Mark did a great job of getting the info on line. One of the problems is you need to know what to look for or it doesn't make much sense.
Back to the informal discovery; why request 1a? This is the biggest area (besides getting the ticket) that bikers get screwed on. They simply do not take the time to understand why and how the cop/courts are screwing them. BOLT has corrected this through lawsuits, yet if the bikers are unwilling to learn and keep being suckers...what good were those lawsuits?
The helmet violation is under Division 12 of the Motor Vehicle Code. Division 12 is equipment...tail lights, head lights and so on. All are to be written as CORRECTABLE unless 3 disqualifying conditions are met...in regards to a helmet citation...if the cop let you ride off with the same helmet he has just violated the law if he wrote your ticket as non correctable. The second attachment is from the BOLT website.
You really really and really need to understand this. The court clerk will jerk you around, the cops will jerk you around and sometimes the judge. Writing the ticket as non correctable is a civil rights violation...which we will go over in the internal affairs complaint. Understand this. Email me with questions. Knowledge is power. You will have to have some understanding of the law, not necessarily as well as Mark does, but some understanding which we will go over further down the road.
All of what we are doing; you or the ticketed biker are working on this right after the ticket was received...weeks if not months prior to the arraignment date. You simply cannot procrastinate. It is a learning process. Little steps
I have been asked to discuss what to do at the time of the stop...I will go over that in a bit. Because you really need to have some understanding of the law and the vehicle code. You cannot do something and say "BOLT said so", you must understand why.
1b) Why this one? Many times I asked the violated biker, did the cop take a picture? Usual response, "I don't know". We want to see any and all photos AND audio recordings AND a copy of all of the officers notes way in advance of the actual hearing. That is why you must start the process right after getting the ticket; It is preparing for battle. You must remember YOU (we) are coming from the moral high ground. We have not violated the law, the cop has. We want to enter that battle from a position of strength which is OFFENSE...not defense. We want to put the cop of the defense.
Email me with any questions. Any questions that I share will not have your name or info. All questions are good and I will do my best to answer or find the answer.
End of the lesson for today. I will finish up on the informal discovery on part 3
First Middle Last xxxx Price Street Yuba City, CA 95962 Defendant in Pro Per (530) 555-xxxx | FOR COURT USE ONLY |
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SUTTER Courthouse East, 463 Second Street Yuba City, CA 95591 (530) 822-3303 | |
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA v. FIRST MIDDLE LAST, Defendant. | |
| I served a copy of the following documents (list the title of each document served): Discovery Request per Penal Code 1054 and 1054.5 On (person served): __________________________ [ X] By personally delivering copies to the person served, as follows: Date: September 2, 2011 Time: __________ a.m./p.m. 1545 Poole Blvd. Yuba City, California 95993 [ ] By mailing copies to the person served, as follows: Date: Place of mailing (address): At the time of service I was at least 18 years of age and [ ] am [X] am not a party to this cause. I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California, that the foregoing is true and correct. Date: September 2, 2011 Name of Server : First, Last Address : 2267 Juice Street, Steel, CA 95xxx Proof of Service | |