The Plot Thickens!

In my previous blog entry, I detailed how I went to the courthouse to submit my “Request for Trial by Written Declaration” with regard to the traffic ticket I’m contesting.

At first the clerk said my ticket wasn’t entered. Then, after about an hour, she “discovered” that the ticket had been entered into the system and a corrected ticket had been mailed to me.

The day I was at the courthouse was April 11. The corrected ticket, she said, was mailed to me on April 3. She showed me a copy of a “Proof of Service” which had my correct name and address on it.

I told her I never received it. She looked at me like I was a liar.

Today, April 18, I received in the mail A “Notice of Correction and Proof of Service.”

The “Proof of Service” portion states that the “Notice of Correction” was mailed to me on April 3. It also states “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the forgoing is true and correct.” It includes a woman’s signature.

But there’s a major problem. The envelope it came in, from the Humboldt County’s Sheriff’s Department, is postmarked April 14!!! That’s 11 days after the woman declared, under penalty of perjury, that the notice was mailed.

Making matters worse for the department is that the clerk used a postage meter. That means she can’t blame the “mistake” on the post office. The envelope wasn’t riding around in the back of a postal truck because it fell out of a bag – not prior to April 14.

In short, a representative of the department committed perjury, claiming to have mailed me the corrected ticket on April 3 when, in fact, it was mailed on April 14.

April 14 was two days after the deadline for me to contest the ticket.

In response, I wrote a brief. (It’s a brief brief – one page. If the weather was warmer, I’d probably write the brief brief in my briefs.)

I’ll submit the brief tomorrow. I titled it "Motion to Dismiss Case & Motion to Exclude Evidence" and I made it look like a legal document. Will they take it? Or will they hassle me? If the latter occurs, I consider it more material for my appeal if I lose this first round.

I’m asking that the case be dismissed because my right to receive a copy of notice pursuant to VC 40505 was violated. And, in the event that judge decides otherwise, I’m asking that, at the very least, the corrected ticket be excluded from evidence for the same reason cited above.

If all else fails, I’ll have my original arguments to fall back on – plus material for an appeal if I lose.