Failure to Yield to Emergency Vehicle

captainballs

captainballs

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
9,954
Alright, I have until August to think about how to get out of this without a lawyer and I'd appreciate any advice. About a week ago I was on my way to work, and I motioned for a cop to go ahead and move in front of me because he seemed to be in a hurry. He did, and later down at the left turning lane I figured out why: he was following a car full of people and only turned his lights on when he was behind them in a turning lane.

So his lights were on in the turning lane and he was behind this car. I needed to get into the turning lane, and I did, but I was behind the cop. I see him from the inside making all sorts of hand motions for me to move over. He goes ahead and turns off his lights and I move out of the turning lane. At this point, the car I thought he was pulling over moved a few car lengths ahead and stopped - just enough room for me to scoot in between them. I didn't at first, until I saw a bunch of hand motions from the cop. Thinking he was inviting me in, I went ahead into the turning lane in front of him since he had stopped.

Next thing I know, I hear "beep beep" and his loudspeaker tells me to follow the other car. Next thing I know I have a court date.

What should I do in court? I'm not going to pay the ticket. I'm in Texas btw.
 
I see no mention of fire trucks or ambulances. While a police car rushing to a "true emergency" would also be considered an emergency vehicle, it seems this guy was intent on pulling over a carload of (from his perspective) trouble makers and you seem to have inconvenienced him. None of what you have described could be construed by any reasonable person as being a "true" emergency.

I don't know what the technical statutes are, but you might be able to make a case with the DA or judge that the "hand signals" the cop was giving you were ambiguous and you had no idea what the fuck he was trying to indicate to you with them.
 
^That's what I was thinking, but I also know that judges have a habit of not looking at you and just saying "no" when a civilian presents them with a story. Of course that is the story, but I think I need to file some sort of motion to get the cops to testify so that they won't show up and I'll get my ticket dismissed.
 
^ You might be surprised. I've sat through a few "ticket sessions" myself in the Bronx where the the judge just flat out tongue-lashed the cops for the slightest of procedural anomalies. And that's why I always show up in court. :)
 
Well I certainly wil show up in court. It's just that being a police officer seems to be all about grabbing that quota these days. This is my first ticket, but to be fair the licence I grabbed that morning was my expired one and the officer could very well have given me a very large ticket for that (or worse). I told him up front when he knocked on my window to open the door and just grab the documents from my seat that the licence was expired. I always keep a passport with me, which is stamped with three visas, just as a sort of eye-catching alibi in case I have expired docs on me. I almost understand the police officers' decisions to be de facto pricks these days, during a recession. They're desperately trying to preserve their income by performing. Throw the illegal drugs part out of the window and I really wouldn't have an issue with them whatsoever.
 
From what I've heard about texas, what you do is get in contact with a lawyer thats connected in that jurisdiction and he is the one that talks to the judge, and they basically throw out your ticket in exchange for a 'fee' of a few hundred to the lawyer.
 
yeah that's been the story of my life. i'm so sick of essentially having to game the system and blow money better spent on anything else than calling judge douchebag's lawyer friend.
 
I had a real asshole similar experience. I got the same ticket.

Cop was rolling very very slowly from a distance, didnt know it was a cop. the light nearby was red. I had plenty of space and he was moving slow so I turned left.

He whipped around, said I cut him off, and I impeded a police vehicle.

Walk in, plead guilty with an explanation. This way you dont look like a smug asshole. If you come in saying "not guilty" and mess up even once you get the full ticket. Chances are, if you come in apologetic but try to explain there was some miscommunication, you can maybe get off with a lesser charge such as impeding traffic, which will at least be 0 points.

I have gotten out of many tickets. Be sure to practice what you want to say. Dont walk in stammering, be honest and open and genuinely sorry for causing the officer trouble. That wins. I've been to court 6 times for tickets, and have 1 point from those 6 times. From accidents and collisions to speeding, missing a stop sign, and the aforementioned cop "cut off"
 
You're very likely to get hit with the whole ticket in most places if you walk in and plead guilty. Go to court on this and explain the situation, demand a trial if they won't dismiss. Find out what you need to do to appeal the ticket, whether you can request a jury trial in your state on a ticket (they're much more willing to resolve tickets when the time consuming threat of a jury trial is looming).
 
There is no right to trial by jury when the offense being charged carries no risk of incarceration.

But as far as I know, you can appeal a traffic citation trial. They won't make it easy in order to discourage people from doing it, though.
 
I'd plead not guilty. Depending on the possible penalties here, it might be worth consulting with a lawyer. At a minimum, read the statute you are accused of violating. If it doesn't violate the rules of this forum--I have no idea--post it here.

If his lights were off when you switched into the turning lane, and you signaled appropriately, my intuition is that you'd have a good case.
 
Walk in, plead guilty with an explanation. This way you dont look like a smug asshole. If you come in saying "not guilty" and mess up even once you get the full ticket. Chances are, if you come in apologetic but try to explain there was some miscommunication, you can maybe get off with a lesser charge such as impeding traffic, which will at least be 0 points.
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Update: not showing up to court, already got a lawyer. They're like vultures right now with the shitty economy, you put them in a pen and they eat each other to get traffic ticket cases these days. There's one guy I know who will counter with a harassment suit, and he's a winner, but he's too expensive and the sure thing dismissal lawyers are cheap.
 
^ Actually, I'm antecedental proof that going from "Bluelighter" to "CE&P Moderator" is really a demotion... ;)


BTW, what kind of fine and/or points on the license are you looking at for this ticket? Is it worth all the fuss, though I'm aware principle is involved here and respect that...
 
Nothing and nothing, respectively. Dismissal guaranteed, not even a court appearance necessary. It's nothing to do with principle or respect, it has to do with points and money. I don't want it on my record and I just got a new car so I don't want my insurance to go up. And it's no trouble at all. Lawyer gets fee, sends judge email, case dismissed. Not exactly what they teach kids in law school, so I hear, but that's about it.
 
lol, if only.

This whole state's legal system is just a steaming pile of failure. The last time I got charged with a real crime I never even showed up to court once. My lawyer told me not to! Dismissed and expunged. Once I visited the DA's office to see how things work, and it looks like a gigantic, unorganized cube farm - and the ADA in charge of my cases was like 26 yrs old and covered in pimples and sweat, running around the office. He honestly looked like someone withdrawing from heroin or something. He dismissed the case just because my lawyer asked him too, and then started running around the office some more.

This place is soooo fucked. Why? Because if you don't have a lawyer then that same incompetence will leave you in the system for the rest of your life, just a bunch of little overworked judges and lawyers pressing buttons to hand out sentences and fines as fast as they come in, without a second to listen to anyone's story. It's why I always chuckle when I read advice on "what to say to the judge." Lol, when judges go on their own forums and ask "what do I say to the accused person who has a story" the judges in Texas reply "reset court date" or "guilty." If we have trial by jury here I'd honestly like to know... seriously, what a shithole.
 
captainballs said:
Lawyer gets fee, sends judge email, case dismissed. Not exactly what they teach kids in law school, so I hear, but that's about it.
Click to expand...

So I've got to ask. Is that hyperbole on your part, or did your attorney actually claim that he just sends the judge an email and presto! case dismissed?

I'm glad it was dismissed, but I'm a bit curious about this part.
 
I don't know, I doubt they send an email since most lawyers and judges who are old don't know jack shit about VPN's or encrypted messages. All I know is that the lawyers I've had/have get this frustrated look on their face if they have to show up to court. The oly time I saw a case dismissed in person was when we went to the DA's actual hell-hole of a workplace in Houston over an MJ charge. The lawyer literally just showed up and said please, and the DA looked at me and said okay. In Texas, I've had experience with various aspects of the law and can add that things are not done by the books here. There is none of the logic and argument that idealistic law students decided to become lawyers for - just a gigantic, broke(n) system to navigate. I wouldn't be a criminal lawyer here. It just comes down to the fact that I don't know enough people to make it really easy and worth the investment in law school. Any other kind of lawyer, maybe. But criminal lawyer no.
 
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