Traffic stop, officer confiscated my firearms.

[TTravis]

Well guys, I lost, but I gave it a hell of a try. Ultimate I got fined $150. I learned a lot and feel like I hung in there pretty well. The trial lasted around 1.5 hours. I feel like just lasting that long was an accomplishment.

 

[TTravis]

The issue of guns never came up. There was really not anything said about alcohol other than there were some beer cans in my boat. I tried to get them on no probable cause and it almost worked. I got to use my 5th amendment right a few times, and they didn't dare mess with my 2nd amendment right. The funniest thing was that toward the end, when the prosecutor was trying to squirm around the fact that the officer did not have proof of who the driver was, she pulled out a printout of this INGO thread. It had yellow highlights and I could tell she spent some time reading it. When she tried to get me to admit to the statements I made here, I simply took the 5th and had nothing to say. Now who sent that to her????

 

[1911 DeadHead]

Are you serious right now? Lesson learned right there.

 

[TTravis]

I couldn't have made that up. That in itself was worth the $150.

 

[1911 DeadHead]

I'm sure you had your poker face on. Lol.

Nice try.

 

[EvilBlackGun]

I'll bet she's HOT T T T T !!

Eh, why is that image labeled "naughty"?

 

[EvilBlackGun]

You could always click-off

And be on thy merry way, unencumbered by this whole thing. EBG

...and to make others suffer for it.

 

[TTravis]

Not much of a poker face. I couldn't help but smile and think "Are you ****ing kidding me".

 

[perry]

The funniest thing was that toward the end, when the prosecutor was trying to squirm around the fact that the officer did not have proof of who the driver was, she pulled out a printout of this INGO thread. It had yellow highlights and I could tell she spent some time reading it. When she tried to get me to admit to the statements I made here, I simply took the 5th and had nothing to say. Now who sent that to her????

Haha.. that really does make it worth the $150.

 

[EvilBlackGun]

I'll be un-reachable until Sunday

I'm going to delete all my posts. Tol' ja !

 

[ryanbr]

He searched all through the car, and looked around inside the boat. I don't think he opened up the storage compartments in the boat, but he did open up and look in the cooler back there which, by that time only had water bottles and energy drinks. He figured out pretty quickly that we were just a father and son on a fishing trip and not crack heads.

I could care less about him looking for illegal stuff. I just didn't know if search meant checking for a license as well.

I'll have to look up what "emboldened part" means. I've never used that term.

The word you brought up last night "highway" woke me up in the middle of the night. Remembering that there was one obvious rock that I have not turned over. I went and pulled up the following code, and there is that word again.

IC 9-24-18-1
Driving without a license
Sec. 1. (a) A person, except a person exempted under IC 9-24-1-7, who knowingly or intentionally operates a motor vehicle upon a highway and has never received a valid driving license commits a Class C misdemeanor. However, the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the person has a prior unrelated conviction under this section.
(b) In addition to any other penalty imposed for a conviction under this section, the court shall recommend that the person be prohibited from receiving a valid driving license for a fixed period of at least ninety (90) days and not more than two (2) years.
(c) The court shall specify:
(1) the length of the fixed period of the prohibition; and
(2) the date the fixed period of the prohibition begins;
whenever the court makes a recommendation under subsection (b).
(d) The bureau shall, upon receiving a record of conviction of a person upon a charge of operating a motor vehicle while never having received a valid driving license, prohibit the person from receiving a driving license for a fixed period of at least ninety (90) days and not more than two (2) years. The bureau shall fix this period in accordance with the recommendation of the court that entered the conviction, as provided in subsection (c).
(e) In a prosecution under this section, the burden is on the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant had been issued a driving license or permit that was valid at the time of the alleged offense.

If you were on a government maintained road I believe you were on a highway, the question would be if it was a State highway or a County highway.

 

[ryanbr]

The officer did try to press this. He even told my son that I neglected him (which really got him PO). The officer told me that I could be charged for neglect and possibly do jail time. He said the same to my wife when she came to pick me up.

He asked my son what he does for a hobby and my son informed him that he races dirt bikes. He told he officer that he races a Honda 250. The officer asked if that was too big or powerful, he said "No, I race with all classes and I keep up pretty well", and "some of the guys I race against are police officers". Now if you ever watch one of those races, you would realise that the boy would have no trouble handling a car for the last mile home.

The officer then took his cell phone and claimed he was calling the county prosecute to talk about neglect charges. The officer went away from me, but closer to my son in the back of his car. I have a very serious suspicion that his call was entirely fake and meant to intimidate me. I wan wondering to myself: Since when does a small town patrolman call a county prosecutor on a Saturday night. at home, and wake him up to talk about a small time POS incident like this? Note, I thought it. I did not ask it. My son also, independently had the same impression that it was a fake call.

He did say I would be getting something in the mail. I guess the prosecutor simply decided to charge me with "allow unauth use of vehicle" which was the description on the order to appear. I later had that clarified to IC 9-24-18-4 Permitting unlawful use of vehicle

The motion for discovery I filed should shed light on whether that call was real or fake. If it was fake, I believe it could be seen as intimidation.

Officers call the prosecutor all the time with question, not unusual at all.

 

[lrahm]

It still could have all been avoided. What reason did the officer say she/he stopped you for?

I am glad that it is over for you and wish you the best.

 

[ryanbr]

Yes, the lights have built in reflectors. They are typical trailer lights. The running lights, turn signals, and emergency flashers were working properly. The lights are the new bright LED type.

There was also reflective tape on the boat itself.

Actually, I just went to look at the boat. It has a separate set of reflectors in the form of old trailer lights. I installed newer diode lights above what is normally the water level when I launch the boat to keep them from blowing out or being eaten by salt water.

so if the turn signals worked why didnt the brake lights work? dont they operate on the same circuit?

 

[long coat]

so if the turn signals worked why didnt the brake lights work? dont they operate on the same circuit?

Yes they are, but I have seen many turn signal switches go bad and not work right.

 

[ryanbr]

This is a rough audience of LEO's as I would expect. My son and I decided we would not try that again. He will get his learner permit at the first opportunity after the beginning of the year. With the exception of having a couple beers with a neighbor, I've not had anything to drink since that time, so I really don't consider alcohol to be one of my problems. As far as the charge/ticket/citation is concerned, that is a matter for the judge to decide. The cop did his part by sending forth the charge, now I have a right to defend myself and I do not feel there is anything immoral about that. As far as my son is concerned, after reading through all the law and the discussions we have had about what all is going on, he just might become a lawyer some day and specialize in traffic tickets. I am glad nothing bad happened that night and there was no accident or injury. I was not looking for a moral lesson here. I appreciate all that I have learned from the comments and opinions, especially from LEO's that help me understand the perspective of a LEO, the process of the stop, my rights, and be better prepared for dealing with the legal system.

Really only drank with a neighbor since this all started, earlier you said you went fishing again, but only took a 6 pack and drank 3 and drove yourself home. Man am I confused!

 

[KG1]

Really only drank with a neighbor since this all started, earlier you said you went fishing again, but only took a 6 pack and drank 3 and drove yourself home. Man am I confused!

The whole ordeal in this thread has been ongoing for over 4 months now with alot of discussion about it in the mean time and it has finally come to a conclusion and you're going to re-hash the whole thing now? Seriously?

 

[ryanbr]

The whole ordeal in this thread has been ongoing for over 4 months now with alot of discussion about it in the mean time and it has finally come to a conclusion and you're going to re-hash the whole thing now? Seriously?

I just read this post tonight, when I posted that hadnt got to the conclusion. so seriously ya. So if me bringing that up bothers ya, to bad.

 

[MrYesterday]

she pulled out a printout of this INGO thread

 

[lrahm]

A lot of truth to "big brother is watching". We had an officer convicted of a major crime because his picture of his car was seen driving down the street by an ATM (not the bacon guy). That was a bunch of years ago. Now days people can gather a considerable ammount of info by a simple "google" search. I find that people in general tell about themselves on these types of forums more than they would in a face to face situation with a lifelong friend.