Legal Question in Traffic Law in Arizona

Fighting moving-radar speeding tickets absent discovery.

I am facing another trial relating to a speeding ticket received 4/14/00. I lost first trial;won appeal based on that I was not allowed to subpoena second officer present at stop. Both officers set to appear 3/29/01. I wish to challenge accuracy of moving radar but discovery is not allowed in traffic court in Arizona. Can I obtain needed info about rader unit (i.e. training manual,calibration, etc.) by other means such as freedom of information? Should I contact Highway Patrol Post for maintenance records for radar unit or patrol car? How do I find out the ways a specific radar unit can malfunction so as to introduce reasonable doubt? Thank you.


Asked on 3/15/01, 2:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

Re: Fighting moving-radar speeding tickets absent discovery.

1. You may be able to locate the machine manufacturer online and get an operator's manual that way;

2. Machine calibration logs are typically maintained by the agency operating the machine, and are public records;

3. The operator's certification needs to be checked to see if it is current; if not sooner, you may require him to produce it in court when he testifies. They usually carry the card in their wallets.

4. You will have to demonstrate some portion of the machine and its test to be out of sync or out of the control levels established by the manufacturer. Some of those can be electrical circuit spikes, dips and other types of interruptions; some may be the age of the chemicals, sensors and lights; some may be the length of the blow and things of that nature. The machine is designed to report in a printout if it self-diagnoses a glitch in its operation.

Good luck.

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Answered on 5/24/01, 9:26 pm


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