OT got a ticket need advise

Ok so anyone who knows me knows that i am a huge dog lover and every animal i have is a rescue, Now with that being said on Nov 5th 4 tickets were issued for 4 dogs not having licensing. $250.00x 4. So the weird part is i didnt recieve them for a week after they were written and i was home on the 5th all day long and yet no one ever made contact and the only 2 dogs that were in view of anything were my shephards in the front yard.

So what can i do to fight this? i didnt even get a chance to sign them or tell the guy to get bent.....

My opinion on this matter is that they are just trying to get more money out of people.

I'd take it to court. You have the right to face your accuser.

That's just me. This is not good advice. IANAL

Ask GoGoDawgs. He's been getting out of tickets 9 times over now in all seriousness.

You should probably get them licensed and then go to court with papers showing you did so. I know that with things like driving without a license and insurance, as long as you get them before the court date they'll usually drop the tickets.

Move somewhere that doesn't require you to license your pet? j/k

I don't know if it will work for this, but for traffic tickets a common trick is to request a List of State Witnesses on the deadline. You'll need to have proof that you filed the request by the deadline (FedEx receipt or a court receipt). The court only has about 5 working days to deliver the list to you and generally they don't have the time or resources.

When you get to court, you present the judge with the evidence that you requested the list by the deadline and tell him that the State did not provide the evidence. Ask to have the witness list suppressed. IF he asks why, tell him that since you didn't know who the witnesses were, you weren't able to prepare a defense or arrange witnesses to challenge their evidence. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING UNLESS ASKED. The judge should then suppress the list.

Now, the State can not present any witness from their witness list. Since there are no witnesses, ask for an immediate dismissal. You HAVE to have a plan B in case the judge ignores your argument. As a bonus, if you have subpeoned the officer and they're there, they generally get real pissed. I watched the State's Radar Technician get his ass chewed by the judge once because he shot his mouth off when the judge the dismissed.

I've gotten out of a couple of traffic tickets by doing this. I'd use it as ONE of several strategies to beat the ticket.

YMMV. I'm not a attorney, and I don't play one on TV.

NO...

The officer is paid to be there and they will be 99.99% of the time. And when the officer shows you will lose. I have never seen a case where the officer shows and the defendant wins, never. This is bad advice.

Your best bet is to request discovery and find an error in the case, a technicality. They must provide a written statement that meets certain rules in the IRLJ. Many times they fail to meet the criteria. While I am not advised on animal cases, I have beat 9 traffic tickets in 25 years, including 2 this summer.

NavyLT said:

Yes, definitely subpoena the officer who issued the infraction. If he/she doesn't show up in court, it gets thrown out.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.63.060:

(f) A statement that at any hearing to contest the determination the state has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the infraction was committed; and that the person may subpoena witnesses including the officer who issued the notice of infraction;

NOTE: I know we are mixing traffic infractions in here, but what Washington did was take the procedure for issuing/serving a traffic infraction and applied those rules to minor offenses now called civil infractions.

Click to expand...

Neighbor turn you in? Why else would AC come along and issue a ticket unless the dogs were running loose? Maybe the neighbor called turned you in and they just wrote up the tickets and mailed em to ya.

NO...

you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. There are specific IRLJ rules to follow governing suponea of witnesses including how to serve them. Do not give legal advice when you have no clue on the actual IRLJ.

New Daddy said:

I don't know if it will work for this, but for traffic tickets a common trick is to request a List of State Witnesses on the deadline. You'll need to have proof that you filed the request by the deadline (FedEx receipt or a court receipt). The court only has about 5 working days to deliver the list to you and generally they don't have the time or resources.

When you get to court, you present the judge with the evidence that you requested the list by the deadline and tell him that the State did provide the evidence. Ask to have the witness list suppressed. IF he asks why, tell him that since you didn't know who the witnesses were, you weren't able to prepare a defense or arrange witnesses to challenge their evidence. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING UNLESS ASKED. The judge should then suppress the list.

Now, the State can not present any witness from their witness list. Since there are no witnesses, ask for an immediate dismissal. You HAVE to have a plan B in case the judge ignores your argument.

I've gotten out of a couple of traffic tickets by doing this. I'd use it as ONE of several strategies to beat the ticket.

YMMV. I'm not a attorney, and I don't play one on TV.

Click to expand...

gogodawgs said:

you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. There are specific IRLJ rules to follow governing suponea of witnesses including how to serve them. Do not give legal advice when you have no clue on the actual IRLJ.

Click to expand...

Ok. I'll call the judge and tell him that he shouldn't have dismissed my tickets and send them a check.

For speeding tickets, all this is spelled out in the instructions on the back of the ticket.

Nosrac said:

Neighbor turn you in? Why else would AC come along and issue a ticket unless the dogs were running loose? Maybe the neighbor called turned you in and they just wrote up the tickets and mailed em to ya.

Click to expand...

maybe so but dont i have to sign them as it just dosnt seem like a legal practice to write someone up and not have them sign it?

Not sure what the local penalties and all that are for your area, but I was just browsing through Port Orchard's and found this exact situation. If yours is like ours, you should definitely get them licensed ASAP.

Port Orchard - 7.12.110 said:

Violation – Penalty – Civil infraction.
Any person violating any provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise identified, is guilty of a civil infraction. The fine for any infraction shall be $40.00 for the first violation, $75.00 for the second infraction committed within one year and $100.00 for the third and subsequent infractions committed within one year. Each and every day or portion thereof, in which an infraction is committed, shall constitute a separate and distinct infraction. (Ord. 1866 § 1, 2002).

Click to expand...

They count EVERYDAY as a single incident, so if you do not have them licensed they may count it against you when you do go to court. Also, here it is free to license Neutered and Spayed animals but $75 per non fixed animal. You should look up your local laws.

I don't know if Tacoma is in King County or not, but earlier this month I did read on the internet that they are going house to house throughout the county to see if pets are licensed. If not, you can license them on the spot or I believe it said you had 3 days to get them licensed. This is county wide, I think licensing your pets is just a way for them to make money. They estimated there were something like 400,000 (!) pets in the county not licensed. If they are spayed/neutered the license is $15.00; if not $25.00. At that amount per pet, they stand to make a LOT of money and money is tight in the county. Also, if you have over a certain number of pets, you have to get a kennel license. If I were you, I would check with the county or animal control in Tacoma. Sorry I can't find the article for you, but check with them, I believe they are supposed to give you a chance to license them before they hit you with a fine. I have to renew my dog's license. They were supposed to send me a notice to renew but I never received it, and I just forgot when I got her license. Also, you may want to google King County Animal Control. Hope this helps.

A license. For a farkin' dog. And a $250 fine for not licensing. Running a red light and actually endangering others is <$150.

O M F G !

:banghead::cuss::banghead::cuss::banghead::cuss:

Metalhead47 said:

A license. For a farkin' dog. And a $250 fine for not licensing. Running a red light and actually endangering others is <$150.

O M F G !

:banghead::cuss::banghead::cuss::banghead::cuss:

Click to expand...

Man u just proved my point its all about greed..........

They count EVERYDAY as a single incident, so if you do not have them licensed they may count it against you when you do go to court. Also, here it is free to license Neutered and Spayed animals but $75 per non fixed animal. You should look up your local laws.[/QUOTE]
No, it is not free!

Squeak said:

No, it is not free!

Click to expand...

I meant in Port Orchard. I had mentioned that I was looking at Port orchard and didn't know how the locals differed in their laws. It's cool though. =p

I'd listen to gogodawgs. Request discovery and go from there. Where my last ticket was you had to request it atleast 14 days before court if in person, 17 days if by mail. The process will be on the court's website or the clerk should help out. On my last ticket I requested discovery and the prosecuting attorney didn't bother to send me anything back so ticket was dismissed.

good advice i will try that and see were it goes from there, i want to thank everyone for there input.

Hey, weren't you watching your friend's dogs while he was on vacation? :dude:

jarhead1055 said:

Man u just proved my point its all about greed..........

Click to expand...

I really have nothing constructive to contribute to this thread, but I'm really just in shock over it.

Although I would be happy to slap the bananas out of whoever came up with a $250 fine for an unlicensed dog for you :banana: