Disobey Stop Sign - Video isn't concise?!

Hey everyone,

Back in March I was pulled over for not stopping for a stop sign.

I was a little out of it due to some family circumstances at the time, but I was fairly sure I stopped.

When the cop pulled me over, he stated - "I just had a look at the video, and it's pretty bad" (all police have dash cams in my town).

I just received the disclosure, and there's a couple things that I have a problem with.

#1, you cannot tell from the video for sure if I stopped or not, because there's a snow bank that's blocking the view of the road before the sign, you can only see me driving from just before the sign, away - which means it's entirely possible that I stopped before the sign before continuing. This makes me a little bit annoyed with what the cop said during the stop ("it's pretty bad").

#2 (and this one really annoys me) - about 20-30 seconds before my car even comes into the picture, an suv literally drives right through the stop sign that is across from the one I was at, and the view of this is completely unobstructed, and yet the cop didn't bother pulling him over??

I am just looking for advice on whether or not I should try to contest this in court? If so, how would I go about it?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Jay

devbrah wrote:

#1, you cannot tell from the video for sure if I stopped or not, because there's a snow bank that's blocking the view of the road before the sign, you can only see me driving from just before the sign, away - which means it's entirely possible that I stopped before the sign before continuing. This makes me a little bit annoyed with what the cop said during the stop ("it's pretty bad").

The video isn't the be-all and end-all of your charge. Almost certainly, the officer charged you based on something he had witnessed. There also just happens to also be a camera recording in the vehicle. While you can certainly argue the officers visibility, the charge wasn't given based solely off of a video. Chances are the officer had a pretty similar view as the camera, but it's not a sure thing. There should be more in the officers notes that would explain how he came to the conclusion of issuing the charge. Use the video to your advantage, but don't rely on it.

As for why the officer said what he said, who knows. He's probably not going to remember saying it if you plan on bringing it up in a trial anyways.

devbrah wrote:

#2 (and this one really annoys me) - about 20-30 seconds before my car even comes into the picture, an suv literally drives right through the stop sign that is across from the one I was at, and the view of this is completely unobstructed, and yet the cop didn't bother pulling him over??

This really isn't any of your concern.

bend wrote:

devbrah wrote:

#1, you cannot tell from the video for sure if I stopped or not, because there's a snow bank that's blocking the view of the road before the sign, you can only see me driving from just before the sign, away - which means it's entirely possible that I stopped before the sign before continuing. This makes me a little bit annoyed with what the cop said during the stop ("it's pretty bad").

The video isn't the be-all and end-all of your charge. Almost certainly, the officer charged you based on something he had witnessed. There also just happens to also be a camera recording in the vehicle. While you can certainly argue the officers visibility, the charge wasn't given based solely off of a video. Chances are the officer had a pretty similar view as the camera, but it's not a sure thing. There should be more in the officers notes that would explain how he came to the conclusion of issuing the charge. Use the video to your advantage, but don't rely on it.

As for why the officer said what he said, who knows. He's probably not going to remember saying it if you plan on bringing it up in a trial anyways.

devbrah wrote:

#2 (and this one really annoys me) - about 20-30 seconds before my car even comes into the picture, an suv literally drives right through the stop sign that is across from the one I was at, and the view of this is completely unobstructed, and yet the cop didn't bother pulling him over??

This really isn't any of your concern.

Thanks for the response bend.

Would you recommend trying to fight it, or just pleading guilty? I've never gone through the process before.

While I feel like I did stop, it almost seems like it's the officers word against mine, which I can't see myself winning.

Thanks!