Quote Originally Posted by CoventryCat86
Yeah George, all this stuff varies widely from state to state. One thing they do in Connecticut is for infractions, you can ONLY get a trial in front of a magistrate and if you or the States Attorney's Office don't like the outcome, you can make a motion to the court for a "Trial de Novo" in front of a judge.

Also in Connecticut, if you are given a ticket for an INFRACTION (minor ticket) you DO NOT have the option of a jury trial.

A long time ago, I was given a high dollar speeding ticket, I went in front of a judge and said I wanted a trial by jury since speeding at that level (at the time over 70 mph in a 55 zone, the officer said I was going 72 but he confused me with another car since it was 4:30 p.m. in HEAVY traffic on the Friday Memorial Day weekend) was an automatic court appearance, not an infraction (a mail-in ticket). I had photographs of the heavy traffic and figured I had a great chance to be found not guilty by a jury.

When I requested the jury trial, the prosecutor said, "Your honor, I will substitute charge the defendant with unreasonable speed which is an infraction which means he does not qualify for a jury trial."

Curses, foiled again I was found guilty by a judge because you can't defend yourself against a lying police officer (no offense George but this guy was an outright liar).
No offense taken, CC - I have a broken knuckle because of a lying police officer that was going to ticket my ex-wife (she was the wife at the time) for "improper backing" in a rear end collision. The bastid was trying to say my ex-wife backed into the car behind her - so fast that it caused the entire trunk area to collapse - through a stop intersection. I punched the wall rather than him, I was so pissed off... He bent to reason when I explained it would be tough to keep that lie up, considering the circumstances didn't match his story... For some reason he thought my ex-wife was trying to "manufacture" the accident in order to "collect insurance money".

I'm convinced that about 5% of the population are a$$holes - which means that about 5% of the cops are a$$holes. I've met a few, I hate to say... Doesn't in the least bit surprise me in the least a cop would lie in front of the judge. Fortunately, the vast majority of the officers I know wouldn't do that...