The Ohio Supreme Court decided in 2010 that a cop’s VISUAL determination of speed is all that is needed to support a speeding ticket. The facts show that an officer gave a ticket to the defendant for going 79 mph in a 60 mph zone. He testified that he was trained and tested to guesstimate speed to within 3 or 4 mph back in the Police Training Academy. The case is silent on how often he is re-tested, but indicates that he has made 'hundreds' of visual estimations since then. It doesn’t say if his estimations were measured against radar.
He estimated the defendant’s speed to be 70mph and had a Doppler radar that showed 82. However, at trial the officer failed to produce his 'papers' showing him to be certified in the radar so the conviction was based solely on his testimony and estimate of speed.
The Ohio Supreme Court held that the officer’s visual estimate was sufficient to support the conviction. The reason? He passed the OPOTA training course and was 'experienced' at estimating speed.
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Well, I've been a Watchin them since I was a kid. I've been a part of the group labeled Crazy Conspiracy Theorists every single time. And subsequently shown to have been correct. And, since I am an experienced observer and have proven my ability to Spot and identify BULLSCHITT, I am callin This ruling Excessive Bullschitt.
ReplyDeleteHow about the old fashioned way? Cop I knew was on patrol with another guy, going through a neighborhood with frequent complaints of a speeder. Speeder went by a couple blocks away, and by the time they turned around and got over there, speeder's car was parked in the driveway. The two cops got out and started pretending to measure something on the windshield. Speeder, watching through a crack in the curtains, came out and asked what they were doing. They told him they were using a new procedure that gave a vehicle's speed by the diameter of fresh bug splatter, and that their measurements showed he had been doing 67 mph in the 35 mph zone. Speeder protested loudly that he was only going 50. They got him to sign off on going 50, with speeder happy to show them who was boss.
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