What are some potential defenses against tickets that are given because of radars and lasers in Florida?
Answer: Ok, so some of the biggest defenses when it comes to radar and laser would obviously be if we’re outside six months between the date of the violation and the date of the last calibration, they would not get—they being the cops—would not have a presumption of reliability. If they calibrated the radar and it’s within six months, there’s a presumption of reliability under Florida law. The burden then shifts to the driver to try and rebut that presumption of reliability. So, that’s one thing we look at—we always look to see if the radar or laser is calibrated. We also obviously want to make sure that the officer can prove the violation, whether he has a good memory of what happened, and then most importantly whether or not the statute is correct. If it’s speeding on the interstate and they’re using a municipal or county statute, then that would be grounds to have it dismissed. So the four corners of the document are very important, but then obviously what’s on the document itself is very important. And Florida is different than other jurisdictions in the Midwest and in other parts of the country—we do not have the municipal or state prosecutor in traffic court. In traffic court in Florida, cops prosecute their own cases. So when it comes time to negotiating, they are the prosecutor, which makes it, you know, a little bit better than having to deal with the state prosecutor in traffic court. We don’t have to worry about that in Florida.
