DPP v TinyTheCabbie ???
So, back on 10th November 2013 I picked up a fare (3 PAX) from Alinga Rank wanting to go to Knightsbridge. A journey of approx 2 blocks.
When I arrived at the destination I nosed into the driveway of the car sales yard next to Knightsbridge. I noticed a white XR6 pull in beside me. On closer inspection I noticed it was an unmarked police car with two officers inside. I didn't give it much more thought except to think that perhaps there was trouble afoot at Knightsbridge and they were responding to a disturbance. So I continued on with the financial transaction with the passengers. The passengers duly left the vehicle and were immediately lost within the crowd at Knightsbridge.
One of the police officers got out of the vehicle and said hello to me. I just assumed this was a polite greeting and so responded with a G'day of my own. The conversation then went like this;
Officer 19372: I suppose you are wondering why we have pulled you over this morning?
Tiny: I wasn't aware that you had pulled me over.
Officer 19372: You ran a red light back there
Tiny: No I didn't
Officer 19372: Yes you did
Tiny: er..no I didn't. I have never run a red light in my life
Officer: You sped up to get through the intersection. The light was very red.
Tiny: The light was not red
Officer 19372: My colleague and I saw that the light was red
Tiny: I would have had 3 witnesses to say that the light was not red
Officer 19372: Yes. We were going to speak to them but they got away.
I was duly issued with a Traffic Infringement Notice (TIN) as you can see.
I have a few issues with this TIN and the conversation with the officer
I did what most of you, by now, are probably suggesting I do and I wrote in and disputed the fine on the basis that I was not at the time and place of the alleged offence. I got a letter back yesterday informing me of the following;
"Your correspondence amounts to a dispute of the infringement; this is based on a case precedent which must be strictly followed within the ACT. The process for this representation is outlined below.
We are required by ACT Road Transport legislation to place the notice on hold and apply for the issue of a summons, which you will receive in due course.
On the date shown on the summons you are required to attend the Canberra Magistrates Court to indicate to the court whether you intend to plead guilty or not guilty to the matter. If a plea of not guilty is entered by you, the Court will set the matter down for a hearing at a later date......."
and so it goes on.
So I find myself in a bit of a pickle. There is absolutely no way known that I can afford to 'lawyer up'. However, I am equally reluctant to sit idly by and allow myself to be fined for an offence I didn't commit and then have the police fail in their duty by obtaining statements from 3 further possible witnesses. Do I pay thousands of dollars, possibly, to save myself $340 and 3 demerit points. Or do I cop it on the chin and pay for something I never did. Or, perhaps, could I represent myself and plead not guilty purely on the fact that I was not at the place of the offence as indicated on the TIN.
POSTSCRIPT: Spoke to a lawyer this morning who advised me that if I plead Not Guilty and go for a hearing, the DPP reserve the right to change the Offence Date in court, to the correct date, leaving me high and dry. It would then come down the word of a Police Officer v a Taxi Driver. Those odds don't sit well with me.
POSTSCRIPT #2: Lawyer called me back just a few minutes ago. There is no real case unfortunately. The DPP can change anything on the TIN that they want in order to 'correct' it. Times, Dates, Locations, Offences. They can change anything they want to at the drop of a hat, and in court. Furthermore, because I was contesting the fine, the onus would be on me to prove what colour the light was. The police officers word would be taken as a given. They also advised me that should I lose a case in court that a conviction would be recorded against me and I would forevermore have a criminal record. Something that I don't need given my studies and prospects for future employment. They are of the opinion that the letting go of the witnesses or straight out failure to speak to them constitutes police misconduct and their advice would be for me to lodge a formal complaint against the officer who issued the ticket and his colleague. In a nut shell their advice is "Pay the fine, cop it on the chin, accept that the Police did the wrong thing and write a complaint.
In general I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Police and the work they do. I also understand that every organisation has its 'bad eggs'. That said, the amount of times the Police (AFP) rely on or request the assistance of taxi drivers is enormous. Not a week goes by where a message doesn't appear on the MTData starting with "Police Message...." followed by keep on the look out for a person, car, incident, appealing for witnesses..you name it. More often than not Canberra taxi drivers are the eyes and ears of the police who for obvious reasons can't be everywhere at once. But you can just about bet there is a taxi everywhere. Do you think an incident as described in this thread endears me to continue to want to help the AFP 'Fight Crime Together And Win' ?? Not really...for the time being all I want to say is...SOD OFF!!! By the way officer 19372, I paid the fine just now. I paid it, not because I was guilty, but because I was painted into a corner. I was forced into a position I could not possibly win from. You may have won this fight, but you will not win this war!!
When I arrived at the destination I nosed into the driveway of the car sales yard next to Knightsbridge. I noticed a white XR6 pull in beside me. On closer inspection I noticed it was an unmarked police car with two officers inside. I didn't give it much more thought except to think that perhaps there was trouble afoot at Knightsbridge and they were responding to a disturbance. So I continued on with the financial transaction with the passengers. The passengers duly left the vehicle and were immediately lost within the crowd at Knightsbridge.
One of the police officers got out of the vehicle and said hello to me. I just assumed this was a polite greeting and so responded with a G'day of my own. The conversation then went like this;
Officer 19372: I suppose you are wondering why we have pulled you over this morning?
Tiny: I wasn't aware that you had pulled me over.
Officer 19372: You ran a red light back there
Tiny: No I didn't
Officer 19372: Yes you did
Tiny: er..no I didn't. I have never run a red light in my life
Officer: You sped up to get through the intersection. The light was very red.
Tiny: The light was not red
Officer 19372: My colleague and I saw that the light was red
Tiny: I would have had 3 witnesses to say that the light was not red
Officer 19372: Yes. We were going to speak to them but they got away.
I was duly issued with a Traffic Infringement Notice (TIN) as you can see.
I have a few issues with this TIN and the conversation with the officer
- I did not run a red light as it is alleged.
- You will notice that the Date of Issue is 10 Nov 2013, yet the Offence Date is 9 Nov 2013. I have obtained a GPS log of the vehicle I was driving that clearly shows that I was in another part of the city at the time of the Offence Date.
- The two officers waited in their vehicle until such time as much passengers had left. This brought the witness ratio down from 4v2 to 2v1. From 4 people in the taxi v two police officers to 2 police officers v me.
- If I was 'pulled over' as the police officer claims. Why then did I hear no siren or see any emergency lights? At 0050 in the morning it would have been very obvious if their emergency lights had been activated. My stereo wasn't on and chatter in the cab was quiet, so I would have also heard a siren.
- I drive a 2T Diesel Van as a taxi. It is not a race car. It doesn't just 'speed up' to get through an intersection. I also have GPS tracking that shows that I went through this intersection at the speed limit and that my previous speed had been constant.
I did what most of you, by now, are probably suggesting I do and I wrote in and disputed the fine on the basis that I was not at the time and place of the alleged offence. I got a letter back yesterday informing me of the following;
"Your correspondence amounts to a dispute of the infringement; this is based on a case precedent which must be strictly followed within the ACT. The process for this representation is outlined below.
We are required by ACT Road Transport legislation to place the notice on hold and apply for the issue of a summons, which you will receive in due course.
On the date shown on the summons you are required to attend the Canberra Magistrates Court to indicate to the court whether you intend to plead guilty or not guilty to the matter. If a plea of not guilty is entered by you, the Court will set the matter down for a hearing at a later date......."
and so it goes on.
So I find myself in a bit of a pickle. There is absolutely no way known that I can afford to 'lawyer up'. However, I am equally reluctant to sit idly by and allow myself to be fined for an offence I didn't commit and then have the police fail in their duty by obtaining statements from 3 further possible witnesses. Do I pay thousands of dollars, possibly, to save myself $340 and 3 demerit points. Or do I cop it on the chin and pay for something I never did. Or, perhaps, could I represent myself and plead not guilty purely on the fact that I was not at the place of the offence as indicated on the TIN.
POSTSCRIPT: Spoke to a lawyer this morning who advised me that if I plead Not Guilty and go for a hearing, the DPP reserve the right to change the Offence Date in court, to the correct date, leaving me high and dry. It would then come down the word of a Police Officer v a Taxi Driver. Those odds don't sit well with me.
POSTSCRIPT #2: Lawyer called me back just a few minutes ago. There is no real case unfortunately. The DPP can change anything on the TIN that they want in order to 'correct' it. Times, Dates, Locations, Offences. They can change anything they want to at the drop of a hat, and in court. Furthermore, because I was contesting the fine, the onus would be on me to prove what colour the light was. The police officers word would be taken as a given. They also advised me that should I lose a case in court that a conviction would be recorded against me and I would forevermore have a criminal record. Something that I don't need given my studies and prospects for future employment. They are of the opinion that the letting go of the witnesses or straight out failure to speak to them constitutes police misconduct and their advice would be for me to lodge a formal complaint against the officer who issued the ticket and his colleague. In a nut shell their advice is "Pay the fine, cop it on the chin, accept that the Police did the wrong thing and write a complaint.
In general I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Police and the work they do. I also understand that every organisation has its 'bad eggs'. That said, the amount of times the Police (AFP) rely on or request the assistance of taxi drivers is enormous. Not a week goes by where a message doesn't appear on the MTData starting with "Police Message...." followed by keep on the look out for a person, car, incident, appealing for witnesses..you name it. More often than not Canberra taxi drivers are the eyes and ears of the police who for obvious reasons can't be everywhere at once. But you can just about bet there is a taxi everywhere. Do you think an incident as described in this thread endears me to continue to want to help the AFP 'Fight Crime Together And Win' ?? Not really...for the time being all I want to say is...SOD OFF!!! By the way officer 19372, I paid the fine just now. I paid it, not because I was guilty, but because I was painted into a corner. I was forced into a position I could not possibly win from. You may have won this fight, but you will not win this war!!