Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

Reckless Driving ''motorcycle''

A week ago I was pulled over and ticketed for only Reckless Driving. An orange Camero was also involved and ticketed. I was accused of doing a standing wheelie in a 45mph two lane zone from a stopped intersection, while the Camero swerved recklessly to catch and race past me. I was pulled over 2 miles from where the incident had occured and was never radared or paced. In fact I was at a complete stop at a red light when I first saw flashing lights behind me and was pulled over. The crazy part of the story is that I never rode through the intersection I was ''spotted doing the wheelie at.'' I made an ajoining turn off of a residential street about 1 mile down the rode, preceded to obey the 45mph speed limit and was pulled over. After pulled over, I was extremely polite and cooperative. My first question to the officer, ''What seems to be the problem officer.'' Dumbfounded and scared, having no criminal record and only a few small speeding tickets on my record, I didn't admit to anything, denying everything like I should. My questions are, should I take the ''misrepresentation case'', it wasn't me, is there enough reasonable doubt...or take an alternate way out like try for misuse of equipment or misuse of power, I have no clue, HELP


Asked on 6/04/04, 3:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
James J. White, attorney Law Offices of Smith & White, PLLC

Re: Reckless Driving ''motorcycle''

I am interested in what police agency pulled you over and which officer, if you recall. Unfortunately, it isn't uncommon for Officers to make those kind of mistakes--misidentifying where the "crime" took place. They usually just rely on their badge to overcome such errors.

"Reckless driving" is a specific criminal charge alleging "malcious disregard for the safety of person or property." Racing also falls under the reckless driving category. It isn't possibly to say exactly what the government is saying you did wrong without first seeing the charging information and police report. Are they saying you were reckless by racing or reckless by wheelie? The ultimate question in any case is: would a jury think your act was criminal? Anyone with any familiarity with bikes would know that a wheelie is not inherently reckless. In fact, many new riders inadvertently "pop a wheelie" by accelerating too quickly. I think if the allegation was just that you wheelied and you had one person familiar with bikes on your jury you'd be in a good position to win. If you'd like representation on the case contact me below.

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Answered on 6/04/04, 4:29 pm


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