Location: Michigan
Hi everyone!
Back in March I got an improper lane change ticket while driving to jury duty at 6am. The court just finally made a ruling on my ticket last week based solely on testimony and ruled against me.
What happened: I was driving on a very busy seven lane road with lots of cars who were speeding and weaving through traffic and I changed lanes one time with my blinker, and an officer pulled me over half a mile down the road and said I didn’t use my blinker and issued me a ticket.
We went to court a total of three times. The first time the court didn’t have the video footage from the officer, the second time they presented the wrong video, the third time they finally admitted the footage was lost and the judge stated, “I don’t think my officer would have made a mistake, I’m ruling against you.” I explained to them that they pulled over the wrong car but they did not care and told me to appeal.
My question: is there any point in appealing since neither side has any evidence? If I do appeal, what can I do differently to get the ticket dropped? I don’t have $200 for something I didn’t do. Thanks in advance!
Comments
Both sides have evidence. Testimony is evidence.
There’s no legal issue with the judge believing them over you. The judges job is to decide who’s right.
There is no point to an appeal. The standard is completely stacked against you when all the judge is doing is weighing evidence. The judge’s comment is almost stupid enough to help, but ultimately doesn’t mean the judge didn’t weight the competing testimonies.
Did the officer testify?