How can I defend myself in court for a texting while driving ticket?
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How can I defend myself in court for a texting while driving ticket?
I was pulled over for speeding about 2 months ago around 12:08 am after coming home for work. The cop says I had my phone on my lap and it was light up my face which I beg to differ, as it was in my cup holder at the time. The cop asks if I was texting. I told him No, I was not. He demanded to look at my phone to see the time stamp as there was an unopened message from a friend. I told him No you may not see my phone. Then he proceeds to give me a ticket for speeding and Use of an electronic communication device while driving – text messaging. I went to court today and showed the county attorney the talk, text and the data logs shows that I wasn’t on my phone at all. The cop is saying my phone was on my lap and it was lighting up in my face versus the phone being in the cup holder. My talk logs shows 1 phone call made at 12:03 am but I was using my cars hands free Bluetooth device. My data logs show no data around the time I got pulled over and my text logs show no incoming or outgoing text messages at that
time. So now a new court date for 2 months from now.
Asked on November 1, 2018 under General Practice, Iowa
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
All you can do is present your testimimony, your evidence (e.g. date log), and side of the story as you presented it here--but expect that you will most likely lose anyway. It comes down to credibiity: you have an obvious bias or agenda--avoid a fine and points. The officer, on the face of things, does not: he has nothing to gain from your ticket. He is neutral; you are biased. He is sworn to uphold the law; you are not. He is a trained observer; you are not. Not surprisingly, the police overwhelmingly believe the police officers, not the people they ticket.
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