Expert: Jack Toomey - 8/11/2004

Question
Hi Mr. Toomey,
Recently I was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt in the town of Conway, Washington.  Let me explain what happened: Two friends and I were driving over a freeway overpass, when I saw an unmarked police car monitoring cars on the freeway. I made eye contact with the police officer, and kept driving. I was not speeding, and was not committing any other infractions. I was in my dad's car which is rarely used, a 1994 GMC Suburban.  After driving approximately 3/4 of a mile past the police officer, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that he was following me. He flipped on his lights and pulled me over.  He walked up to the window, and the first thing he said was "Why did you just put you seatbelt on?" I had, actually, had it on the whole time.  I let him know this politely, and he replied "I saw the metal seatbelt clip through your window as you drove by, so how could you have had it on?"  He was trying to get me to admit that I had put it on as he was walking up to my car or something.  I really did have it on the whole time though.  I then noticed that the seatbelt was a little loose on the upper shoulder, and said to the officer, "It probably looked like I didn't have it on, because it doesn't look like the shoulder belt is completely retracted." He gave me a disgusted look and took my license and registration back to his car.  20 Minutes later he came up to my window and handed me a $101 dollar ticket, not for failure to wear a seatbelt, but for faulty equipment, a non-traffic violation.  He said it was required in the state of Washington to have a working shoulder belt.  I have heard it used as an excuse before, but I truly believe that the officer was just looking for a reason to give me a ticket since I caught HIM lying about seeing the buckle in the window.
The shoulder belt must have broken that day, because my Dad said he had used the car a week before and the belt was working fine.  Since then, no one has driven the car and my Dad ordered the replacement part.  
I am not sure if you are familiar with the seat belt laws in Washington State, but there has been a recent Supreme Court case in which it was ruled unconstitutional to pull a car over just because a police officer sees that a passenger or driver is not wearing a seatbelt.  I am not sure of the current status of this case.
I chose to have a Mitigation hearing for the ticket, do you think I have a chance at reducing or suspending the ticket?  What would you say to the judge in my position?  Should I have one of the people who was in the car with me come into court with me? I would really appreciate your advice.

Thank you for your time,
Adam


Answer
Adam,

    I don't mean to sound like I am blowing you off but I have no idea if you have a chance in reducing or suspending the ticket.  Your court system in your state obviously is a lot different than in my state because I have never heard of a mitigation hearing.  It must be something unique to your state.  It can't hurt you to bring along as many witnesses as possible to help you prove your innocence and make sure that everyone tells the truth because you will be in alot more trouble if anyone lies.

   Sorry I can't help more.