The state extortion machine, hard at work (II)
News ·Saturday August 18, 2012 @ 17:09 EDT (link)
Honey writes: (continued from part 1)
On August 18, 2012 I had to go to court for the supposed seat belt violation that took place on May 31, 2012 on the way to my doctor's office. There is a separate write-up for the events that took place on May 31 and a write-up of my complaint of Officer McKenzie to his supervisor Sgt. Leschick.
David and I went to the court house at my specified time (around 4:00 p.m.) on August 18, 2012. I went in to the courtroom armed with my photos and notes about the incident that took place on May 31, 2012. We sat there and waited until we were called into the court room and the names of people that were going to "trial" were called alphabetically by last name. Several people got off and according to my memory most of them were in fact men. The women tended to be treated unfairly by the judge in my honest opinion.
Finally they got to the R's and the man who went before me was there for a seat-belt violation as well. He told how he was wearing his seat belt and taking his kid to school. He mentioned how he had never gotten a ticket before and the judge let him off. Then my name was called and I went up and told my side of the story. I didn't notice until it was too late that the police officers changed their stories from what Officer McKenzie had told me at the stop to what they told the judge during court. Office McKenzie had told me on scene at my stop that he saw me putting on my seat belt while being pulled over. However, in court he said that my seat belt was not seen and then he and Officer Jacobson (the actual "witness" to the violation) both said that my seat belt looked as though it was on, but tucked under my arm while I was driving.
I missed the change in story (mostly because I didn't think they would lie), and told the judge that I had been wearing my seat belt the entire time and that I am just too short to see the seat belt from outside of my vehicle unless you are right next to me. I proceeded to show the officers and the judge my pictures showing how difficult it is to see me with my seat belt on (unless you are looking closely). The judge didn't even bother to look at the pictures, he just flipped through them as though he didn't care. I also mentioned that the officers didn't bring their "evidence" to court with them (the video tape and the audio recording) and the judge didn't care. The officers mentioned that my seat belt was not visible from behind the vehicle, but that it didn't matter because they had both seen me from the side and I didn't have my seat belt on (or it was tucked under my arm).
The judge told me that he was going to fine me for not wearing my seat belt but that as consolation, that this wouldn't go against my driver's license and would not increase my insurance (as if that should console me) and that he would not make me pay court costs either.
The real reason that Officer McKenzie did not want to bring the video/audio tapes in is because it would show him to be the liar that he is. It would show how rude he was to me and how judgmental and how he just dismissed me without bothering to care how I felt about things. It would also shed light on his statement that I was lying about wearing my seat belt because he saw me put it on while I was driving. He didn't want his lies to be shown for what they were so he conveniently did not bring the so called "evidence" with him because he didn't want to be seen for the villain that he is.
Officer McKenzie had a vendetta against me because I filed a complaint against him and he was getting his revenge by having his buddy Officer Eric Jacobson (I think that's his name) lie for him and back him up under oath.
This entire situation has made me realize how totally unnecessary traffic cops are under most circumstances and how voluntaryism is the answer! I have been extremely angry for almost a year now and nothing can ever give me my innocence back about this. I truly believed that if the truth was on my side that I would not be treated this way, but in the end it was a money grab and they (the officer's and the judge) did not care at all that I was wearing my seat belt, they just wanted to get their money.
What is more, I had to sign a paper in court admitting to the violation and then I had to go pay the fine. I had to lie in court on a piece of paper handed to me by the state and I was told that if I didn't sign it that I wouldn't be allowed to leave. I was forced to lie and pay the fine when I should never have been in that situation in the first place.
