Quote:
Originally Posted by Spuds
I've never had this kind of problem, nor do I live in Georgia, but doesn't the cop have to provide actual evidence to bring criminal charges against OP? Did I miss something or has there not been any evidence presented? If it is un-aimed radar, shouldn't he have to prove it was you specifically?
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That evidence would not have to be released until court proceeding have been started. They do not have to provide any evidence at all at the time of arrest. This is where even a moderately decent lawyer would get involved since he will know exactly how to gain access to the State's case and evidence.
Some good stuff on the radar here:
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...hapter6-1.html
Pulling You Over as Part of a Group of Cars. In situations where several cars proceed over the speed limit, some especially zealous officers will take a radar reading on the “lead” vehicle and then pull it over, along with one or two followers. In court, the officer will try to use the reading for the first vehicle as the speed for everyone else. The officer may even be up front about this, saying that he or she saw the vehicles behind following at the same speed. (“There was no change in bumper-to-bumper distances”.) Or the officer may even claim to have also used the radar unit to measure the speed of second and/or third cars. (“When they passed through the beam, there was no change in the reading.”) Either way, this is shaky evidence. To be really accurate, the officer would have had to simultaneously note the lead car’s reading while also keeping a close eye on the other cars. (This is something that is especially hard to do if the officer’s car was also in motion.) If the driver of the second car can truthfully testify as to how the lead car was going faster and increasing the distance, it should be a big help to establish reasonable doubt in court. And the use of radar to measure the cars is also problematic, since by doing so the officer admits several cars were close together and that he or she was trying to measure all their speeds almost simultaneously. Here are some possible defenses: (1) If you were the driver of the lead car, you may be able to claim that the officer inadvertently locked onto a higher reading of the second or third vehicles that were gaining on you. If the second or third vehicles were larger than yours, the chances of a false reading on your car go up, because the larger vehicle will reflect a stronger signal. In this situation it may help the driver of the lead car if he or she can truthfully testify to seeing (in the rear or side mirror) the second vehicle quickly gaining from behind and suggest that the radar reading was really for that vehicle. (2) If you were the driver of one of the vehicles behind the lead car, the
vehicles in front of you may have been traveling faster (as lead vehicles often do). If that vehicle was larger than yours, or closer to the officer’s vehicle, this would result in that vehicle’s reflected radar signal being stronger. You could argue here that the radar unit read the speed of the car ahead of you, not your slower speed.