What Does the Law Say?

The first thing you need to do is find out what you are charged with -- not just what your ticket says, but the exact words of the law you are charged with breaking. In some states, traffic laws are set out in a "Vehicle Code," while in others they are gathered as part of a "Transportation Code," "Motor Vehicle Laws," or under some similar name. No two states have exactly the same traffic laws, but most are very similar.

Look for a number on your ticket that corresponds to the law (often called a "statute" or "vehicle code section") you are charged with violating. Sometimes it will be hand-printed by the officer in a box or blank; other times it's preprinted on the ticket, with the officer simply checking the appropriate box. In either case, near the statute number you will often find a very short description of the law (for example, "VC [Vehicle Code Section] 22350 -- exceeding posted speed"). For speeding violations, in most states you'll also find the speed the officer claims you were going, as well as the posted speed limit on the road where you were stopped.

Now you must look up and read the law the officer claims you violated.

1. Try the Internet

The fastest way to find your state's traffic laws is on the Internet. In addition to finding the law on the Internet, you can also find state and local court websites there. To help you get started, the Appendix lists the websites for each state's vehicle laws as well as court information for each state. You can usually search your state website using words or terms -- for example, "Vehicle Code 15647," or you can scroll through the index of laws usually high-lighted on the state's home page.

We also recommend that you consider using Google.com, the popular Internet search engine. If you are searching for a state vehicle law, try using any combination of the following elements:

• Type your state's name.
• If you know it, provide the literal name or number of the law, in quotation marks.
• If you can think of key words that identify the law, provide those as well. For instance, if the law is about speed limits in California school zones, you could probably find it by typing in the terms: "speed limit school zone California."

Be sure you are reading current law. Once you've found your state's motor vehicle laws, make sure you have your hands on the latest version (in the year 2005, this should normally include laws adopted in 2004). This is particularly important if you use books, as described, below. Republished fairly infrequently, these law books are updated with paperback supplements inside the front or back cover.

2. Use Public and Law Libraries

Most libraries have copies of your state's vehicle laws. This could range anywhere from a single dog-eared volume containing just the fine-print text of traffic laws to a complete multivolume set of all your state's laws. The bigger the library, the more likely it is to have a more comprehensive collection. It's a good idea to call the reference librarian to see what's available before making a trip. In most states you can usually use a courthouse or public law school law library, which will almost surely have a complete set of laws. Often the easiest way to find the text of the law you are charged with is to show your ticket to the research librarian and ask for directions to the proper book.

3. Read the Law Carefully

Once you find the law you are charged with, study it carefully to determine which facts the prosecution will have to prove to convict you. Many laws are complex. In fact, they are often so convoluted that it's not uncommon to find, upon careful reading, that what you did was not, technically speaking, a violation of the exact words of the statute. Always ask yourself the question: What are the elements (or parts) of the offense I am charged with committing?

For example, in most states the law making U-turns illegal reads like this:

No person in a residence district shall make a U-turn when any other vehicle is approaching from either direction within 200 feet, except at an intersection when the approaching vehicle is controlled by an official traffic-control device.

You should break this law down into its elements by drawing a line between each clause, like this:

No person in a residence district / shall make a U-turn / when any other vehicle is approaching from either direction / within 200 feet / except at an intersection / when the approaching vehicle / is controlled / by an official traffic-control device.

Focusing on each element of a law is often the key to unlocking an effective defense. That's because to be found guilty of having made this illegal U-turn, the state must prove you violated every "element" or clause of the offense. In this case, the state would have to show specifically that:

1. You were driving in a "residence district"
2. You drove your vehicle in a 180-degree turn, or "U-turn"
3. Another vehicle was approaching within 200 feet or less, in front of or behind you, and
4. An "official traffic-control device" at an "intersection" was not controlling the vehicle approaching you.

If you can show that your conduct didn't violate any element of a traffic law, then the law was not violated and the charge should be dismissed. For example, you should be found not guilty if the area where you were ticketed was not a " residence district," or the vehicle the officer claims was approaching was over 200 feet away, or you were at an intersection controlled by an "official traffic control device."

This type of word-by-word reading of statutes may seem hyper-technical, but it is commonly employed by lawyers and judges. The American legal system is built on the concept that you are innocent unless the state can prove you committed some clearly defined conduct -- for example, driving a motor vehicle faster than 65 mph on a public road. (Note that even if you conclude you really have violated every element of a law, your case is not hopeless. In Chapter 3 we discuss other legal challenges you can make.)

Finding Support Using Legal Research

As discussed, our first step is to dissect the wording of the violation you are charged with to see if you committed every element of the offense. If, after doing this, you are not certain you can challenge the law on this ground, there are further steps you can take to build a strong defense. The key skill to build your defense is knowing how to research and understand the laws that apply to the particular legal problem. Fortunately, legal research isn't difficult; you certainly don't need a law degree to do it. The techniques needed for even fairly sophisticated legal research on traffic tickets can be learned in several hours. An excellent tool for helping you do this is the book Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law, by Steve Elias and Susan Levinkind (Nolo). Below I'll briefly cover several key research techniques.

1. Finding Case Decisions

Once a law is written, judges use real-life situations to interpret it. Sometimes these decisions (called cases) will make a huge difference to your situation. For example, in all states, speeding for the purpose of being a show-off is a crime called "exhibition of speed." But an appeals court in California expanded the law to include screeching a car's tires (or burning rubber) to impress listeners who can't necessarily see you. This unusual expansion of the words "exhibition of speed" is something you would never know by reading the law alone.

In another example, Ohio's speeding law says you must drive at a "reasonable and prudent" speed. But it does not say whether it is legal to drive over the posted speed limit. A state appeals court ruled, however, that the wording of the law allowed motorists to drive above the posted speed if they are being "reasonable and prudent." Without reading the appeals court decision, the average person would not know that it was legal to drive above the posted speed limit in Ohio.

Don't waste time researching a law that is simple and clear. If you are charged with failure to make a complete stop at a stop sign, you probably do not need to research case law. Reading the law itself is probably enough. It's usually a pretty clear law and unlikely to have been changed through court decisions. On the other hand, if the law you're charged under is a bit more complex, case law research can help you answer questions that the statutes or laws themselves don't address. For example, this could be true in a case involving a "presumed" speed law, where your right to see a copy of the officer's notes in advance of the trial has been denied.

There are a few ways to find court decisions that interpret a particular law. A common method is to look in a set of "annotated" codes or laws. This is simply a set of your state's laws that list summaries of court decisions interpreting what the law means. These summaries are found just below the text of each law. Annotated laws can be found in all law libraries, at publicly funded law schools, at principal county courthouses (usually open to the public), and at private law schools where the public is sometimes allowed access. Some larger public libraries also stock annotated codes. Annotated codes are indexed by topic and are kept up-to-date each year with paper-back supplements (called "pocket parts") located in a replaceable pocket in the front or back cover of each volume. Don't forget to look through these pocket parts for any law changes or case decisions occurring since the hardcover volume was printed.

Another way to find court cases is on the Internet. Private Internet services such as Lexis-Nexis (www.lexisnexis.com) and Versuslaw (www.versuslaw.com) contain online annotated codes, but you'll have to pay a fee to access them. (We recommend Versuslaw, as it is the least expensive service, and you can use your credit card to pay for services.) You may also be able to find case law regarding certain types of motor vehicle statues by using an Internet search engine such as Google.

2. Analyzing Court Decisions

Once you find the law you are accused of violating in the annotated law books, skim the brief summaries of the court decisions that interpret the law. Look first for relatively recent cases that involve situations similar to yours where a judge ruled in favor of the defendant because of some circumstances that you, too, might be able to prove. Assuming you find a summary that you think might apply to you, you'll need to read the court's full written opinion to see if it really makes a point that helps you beat your ticket.

Write down the "citation" for the relevant case. This consists of a shorthand identification of the page, volume, and set of law books where the decision or case can be found. (See "How Citations Work" above.) In most states, there are two different sets of volumes of books containing the court decisions, and you'll be given a citation to each, one after the other. It makes no difference which one you use.

If you find annotations to several cases that fit your facts, look first at the most recent one (newer cases often reinterpret or supersede older ones) decided by your state's highest court (called the Supreme Court in every state except New York and Maryland). Cases from your state's intermediate level appeals courts are valid unless overruled by that state's Supreme Court. Finally, you should look at the actual case (not just the summary in the annotated codes). Fortunately, help is available:

• In the law library -- Show the law librarian your citation.
• Online -- if you use one of the for-pay services, such as Versuslaw, you should be able to locate it by typing the citation into the site's search engine.

For some helpful free information online, check out Nolo's website (www.nolo.com), which contains detailed information on how to do legal research, including how to find and interpret cases.

Understanding the specific law you violated -- and the cases that interpret that law -- is just part of your job. Since each law is written to deal with a very specific action (for example, exceeding the speed limit), other laws may also have a bearing on your case. Or put another way, the legal interpretation of one traffic law can sometimes affect another.

Here are some examples:

• Section 123.45.678 of your state's motor vehicle law forbids exceeding 25 mph in a residential district. But section 123.45.605 says all your state's speed limits are "presumed" limits. This means even though you may have technically violated Section 123.45.678, you might be able to successfully claim that it was legal to do so because Section 123.45.605 allows you to exceed the speed limit when driving safely under the circumstances (see Chapter 5, Sections A and C, for more on "presumed" speed limits).
• You are ticketed for a violation of Section 123.45.654 of your state's vehicle code for making a U-turn in a "residential district." But Section 123.45.666 defines a residential district as an area with at least four houses per acre of land. Since you made your U-turn in an area with fewer houses per acre than are listed in statute 123.45.666, you can argue you are not guilty of every element of Section 123.45.654 and are, therefore, not guilty.
• You are charged with speeding based on the reading of a radar gun used by the police officer. Your ticket says you are charged with a violation of Section 123.45.765 of the vehicle code, speeding. But Section 345.67.898 of the vehicle code says an officer must follow certain procedures in using radar, and you can prove she did not follow the proper procedures (see Chapter 6, Section B4, for more on radar defenses).

To find information about other laws related to your case, like these here, you will have to look in the index of the annotated codes under subjects that you believe relate to your ticket. Then you need to look up the laws related to those subjects and look for the "annotated" cases listed below the code, just as you did, above.)