IP: Judge dismisses 290 red light camera tickets in San Diego

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> To: politech () politechbot com
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
> ***********
>
> SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO
> In re: Red Light Camera Cases   CASE NO. 579275D
> ORDER EXCLUDING EVIDENCE
>
> Plaintiff, The People of the State of Califomia, V.John Allen, et al., 
> Defendants.
>
> The prosecution's arguments have not persuaded the Court to change its 
> ruling. The prosecution relies on People v. Adams (1976)59 Cal.App.3d 559 
> and the cases following it for the proposition that failure to follow the 
> statute only goes to the weight of the evidence and not to its 
> inadmissibility. As pointed out in People v. Williams (2001) 89 
> Cal.App.4th 85 at 100,
>
> Adams and its progeny were crafted to address anomalies or occasional 
> errors and innocent lapses in law enforcement. They were not meant to 
> provide a means for peace officers and their agencies to ignore clear, 
> easy-to-apply statutory law and administrative rules, for any reason, 
> including budget or personnel constraints.
>
> In this case, the failure of the city to operate the system as required by 
> the legislature, combined with the contingent fee paid to Lockheed Martin 
> goes far beyond Adams or any of the cases which follow Adams. The Court 
> sees no difference between a contingent fee to a private corporation and a 
> contingent fee paid to an individual.
>
> Therefore, the Court's ruling will stand. The evidence from the red light 
> cameras will not be admitted.
>
> IT IS SO ORDERED.
> DATED; September 4, 2001
> Ronald L. Styn
> Judge of the Superior Court
>
> ***********
>
> From: "Jack Dean" <JackDean () WebCommanders com>
> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
> Subject: Judge dismisses 290 red-light camera tickets
> Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 18:49:37 -0700
>
> http://www.uniontrib.com/news/metro/20010904-1522-crime-camera.html
>
> San Diego Union-Tribune
> September 4, 2001
>
> Judge dismisses 290 red-light camera tickets
>
> By Len Novarro
> REUTERS
>
> SAN DIEGO - A San Diego judge Tuesday threw out 290 traffic tickets issued
> to motorists by the city's controversial red light camera system, placing
> the privately operated program in jeopardy along with its millions of
> dollars in revenue.
>
> San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald Styn, ruling in a case that has been
> closely watched on both sides of a growing debate over the new technology,
> said that a contingency fee paid to the private operator of the city's
> system, Lockheed Martin IMS, made the evidence unreliable.
>
> "The evidence from the red light cameras will not be admitted," Judge Ronald
> Styn said in reaffirming his Aug. 15 opinion in a class-action lawsuit
> against Lockheed Martin. Styn's ruling came after he heard arguments from
> attorneys representing the motorists and by Deputy City Attorney Steven
> Hansen, who said he was considering an appeal.
>
> "I'm pretty adamant," Hansen said. "The judge's decision was incorrect. The
> judge said that there was no problem with the camera's system. The only
> problem ... was that a private company was operating it."
>
> [...]
>
> ***********
>
> From: "Jack Dean" <JackDean () WebCommanders com>
> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
> Subject: San Diego's red-light cameras ruled illegal
> Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 17:38:47 -0700
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>
> http://www.rogerhedgecock.com/flash_page/flashfaxes/current.shtml
>
> TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2001
> NEWSRADIO AM 600 KOGO (3P-6P) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA HOME OF THE RADIO MAYOR
> OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
>
> ROGER'S RED LIGHT CAMERA LAWYERS.WIN!!
> (judge rules Scamera citations illegal..cannot be evidence)
> ROGER so hyped when he hears the ruling this morning that he's already
> planning a party. Likely Thursday at ROGER'S On Fifth. Judge Ron Styn rules
> to reaffirm his previous decision that the conspiracy between the city of
> San Diego and Lockheed Martin is illegal, thus any evidence produced by the
> illegal scheme cannot be submitted in court against innocent
> drivers/extortion victims.
>
> IMMEDIATE RESULT
> is that the 290 (or is it 400) cases involved in this specific matter are
> dismissed. The secondary result is that we'll want ALL OTHER extortion cases
> dismissed.even if folks paid up without a trial. We're talking every single
> dime refunded to every single victim nabbed by a San Diego Scamera. Then we'
> re on to getting driving records returned to clean status..no points,
> marks..REMOVED. And then we want insurance companies to rebate any premium
> hikes associated with an illegal Scamera conviction. And if folks were
> forced to go to a traffic school.we want the city and/or Lockheed to rebate
> that fee as well. How all this is gonna happen will be fodder for discussion
> on ROGER'S radio show in the days to come.
>
> ANOTHER RESULT OF JUDGES RULING
> today is that communities all over America will have to re-look at their in
> progress or proposed Scamera projects. We're not legal but we guess that
> this ruling has no validity in a D.C. or Carolina court, but any judge worth
> salt has to consider San Diego as the cesspool of this criminal conspiracy
> and measure cases against our now proclaimed and validated miscarriage of
> justice.
>
> ROGER VOWED
> in May of 2000 that he'd shut down the Scameras in San Diego. Not only has
> that happened, but we're well on our way to ensuring that they never return
> as entrapment, revenue scheming, extortion, entrapment gadgets.
>
> THIS VICTORY IS SWEET
> .listen up on the radio today as ROGER thanks those who made it happen.but
> know beforehand that he is likely to give supreme credit to all those
> thousands of men and women who said "hell No," and took their cases to
> court. Took time from work, were abused too often by the court system,
> demanded justice and many who paid more than the price of the Scamera ticket
> to fight against the City/Lockheed conspiracy. This morning's verdict
> belongs not only to ROGER'S Red Light Lawyers, but also to the 290 (or is it
> 400) victims who stood up, demonstrated backbone and raised their swords
> against the windmill. We hope they'll join us on Thursday to rejoice!!
>
> AND BEAR IN MIND
> that this battle resumes on several fronts.Our class action lawsuit a work
> in progress. The newly filed federal RICO suit of last Thursday is just
> aborning. We'll need to keep at least one good eye on that "Independent"
> city audit of the entire Scamera fiasco. Steve Peace legislation in
> Sacramento will need our support (and beefing up.Dems are watering down
> Senator Peace's bill and it may not make it to full floor votes this
> session).Oh, and note please from yesterdays post on ROGER'S News, that the
> city of Oxnard, (home to the bogus and too much quoted Red Light Scameras
> are for safety insurance study) is now re-thinking its Scamera program,
> based on the illegal criminal conspiracy perpetrated in San Diego. That
> should stop Chief David and others from spouting Oxnard Report nonsense.
> (wonder if we can use David's handcuffs on him? Do Chiefs have
> handcuffs?..humm)
>
> ***********
>
>
>
>
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