Had a client, we'll call him HC (hypothetical client). He was driving around, minding his own business in Seattle, when he was pulled over by the Seattle cops. They said they clocked him with the radar gun going 10 mph over the posted speed limit. My guy was sure that he wasn't speeding, but was unsure of what to do to contest the ticket. He had a perfect driving record, was proud of it, and didn't want it to be tarnished. So, he did the right thing and called me, a Seattle speeding ticket attorney.
Once he called me and signed up I filed my notice of appearance, requested a contested hearing date, and requested a copy of the officer's statement and radar gun information. If you didn't know, Seattle speeding tickets, almost all of them, are issued based upon the reading of a speed measuring device (SMD). To get the SMD information admitted into court, they have to comply with the rules of evidence. This means having someone certify under oath that that SMDs have been maintained in an appropriate manner and are used in an appropriate manner.
After a week or so I received the discovery from the State, and I began going through my checklist of issues to review for a Seattle speeding ticket (by the way, any good Seattle traffic lawyer is going to have a list - helps us to not forget anything). One of the primary concerns on the list when it comes to SMDs is to make sure all of the procedural hoops have been jumped through to ensure it can be admitted into evidence. If those procedural hoops have not been jumped through then the radar evidence is inadmissible, and assuming you didn't tell the cop you were speeding, you will get your Seattle speeding ticket dismissed.
If you get a speeding ticket in Seattle or any other kind of traffic infraction in Seattle, I'd highly recommend fighting it, even if you decide you don't want to hire a traffic attorney. Just put your thinking cap on, review the law, see what the prosecutor must prove to beat you, and see if that information is in the officer's statement. If it isn't, you can probably beat your speeding ticket.
Oh, and one other thing while I'm here so you don't get freaked out when you contest your Seattle speeding ticket. Many times there is no prosecutor in the building when you have your contested hearing. This is normal. Whoever is in charge of prosecutors has simply decided they don't want to waste their time paying someone to fight these contested traffic tickets. This is good because there is no one contesting what you are saying, no one advocating for the cops. It's just you and the judge. I think this always means you have the upper hand.
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