Who says court has to be boring? In Keene, 5 activists turned out to support me for a simple parking ticket arraignment. We laughed and joked as one wore a winter hat despite the court rules of decorum prohibiting headwear. We watched as the obedient slaves took their whippings and pled guilty to a bunch of vicimless crimes. Then it was my turn.
I decided ahead of time that I was going to try an experiment: I would remain silent. Would the judge get mad? Would he compel me to speak by threatening arrest? It turns out, he ended up acting as my defense attorney! Watch this 2-minute clip:
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Wow, who knew it could be so easy? I received a parking ticket in August while getting my hair cut at Moda Suo salon in town. The stylists at Moda did a great job, by the way — and they take bitcoin! I walked down to city hall to challenge the ticket and was given an arraignment date. That means I was told to appear in court to plead either guilty or not guilty. When I appeared to plead not guilty, the prosecutor said, “Are we really going to court over a five dollar ticket?” He dismissed it. Victory!
Since I document and upload my daily life to YouTube, I can share with you video of the entire process. In this playlist, watch as I receive the ticket, go to City Hall to challenge it, and then eventually walk out of court victorious.
Thank you, Jason Short, for doing the right thing and dismissing this ticket. I have another parking ticket to challenge next month. Let’s see if the next one gets dismissed, too. I’ll be ready for court just in case. Think of it: a whole trial just to extort $5 from me? Going to trial costs them way more than that. Will they stop ticketing my car? Will they increase the fine for a parking violation? Will they abolish parking enforcement altogether? Time will tell.
On March 16 of this year, I received a parking ticket while parked on Winter Street. After looking at the ticket, I realized that the ticket was written before the meter was supposed to have expired. I had parked at 1:00pm and put enough money in the meter to cover the next 1 hour and 6 minutes. The ticket was written at 2:05:57. A few days later, I went to the Police Department stating that I would like to challenge the ticket. A Pre-Trial Conference (PTC) was set, and I motioned to waive the PTC. A Hearing was then scheduled for June 12 at 9:00am.
I arrived at the District Court at approximately 8:40am and at 8:50 was called by the Clerk to go into the “small room” near the lobby. I can only guess that Judge Burke did not want everyone in the main court room to see the trial.
The only witness against me was Jane McDermott, the Parking Enforcer who issued the ticket. During cross-examination I asked how, since the meters aren’t calibrated, she knew the meters kept accurate time, she stating that she doesn’t know, but if the batteries are bad, they replace them. I attempted to make a statement and was told that I would have to testify in order to introduce any “evidence,” so after the “City” rested it’s case, I was sworn in. I stated that on the date in question, I had parked at 1:00pm and put enough money in the meter to cover the next 1 hour and 6 minutes, which meant the meter should not have expired until at least 2:06 (and some seconds). Since the ticket was written at 2:05:57, I was shorted some amount of time that I was owed.
Judge Burke then said “Since the burden of proof is on the City to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, I am marking a finding of not guilty.”
I was pulled over while driving 50 mph in a 55 mph zone. The officer alleges I was going 72. That is impossible because I was stuck behind a slow-moving pickup truck for about 20 miles, and that truck was keeping me slowed at a pace of 50 mph.
To learn more about why I take the time and energy to fight arbitrarily-written tickets, click below:
