More Traffic Court Guilty Verdicts Get Green Light

By Harrison Golden

NYNJ.com

Just as Sanford Young was parking his car along First Avenue, he looked at the clock perched on his dashboard. He insists it was just after 7:00 p.m.

But moments after Young stepped into a nearby building, NYPD officers approached the Upper East Side lawyer’s vehicle, slapped a ticket on his windshield, charging him with parking in a spot where it was not allowed between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“I synchronize my clock with my cell phone, which, like a lot of people, is set by my service provider,” Young argued. “I wonder what kind of clock that officer goes by.”

The NYPD has recently begun penalizing officers whose ticket-signing practices fail to hold up in court. But many officers admit that, because of their frequent association with traffic judges, they are given sympathy – even if that means stretching the truth in their testimonies.

“For some officers, describing the scene as it really was is not enough,” said one retired 25-year NYPD veteran. “They might try making the picture a bit more colorful. And if that doesn’t hold up in court, the folks filing the cop’s paycheck will write in smaller numbers than usual.”

According to statistics from the New York City Department of Motor Vehicles, acquired through a Freedom of Information request, all six judges at Manhattan South Traffic Violations Bureau on Rector Street, the city’s busiest such court, issued more guilty verdicts last year than in 2010.

Judge Mark Harris logged issued guilty verdicts than any other judge, with 65 percent, up 9 percent over 2010. Judge Claudio Collins’s guilty rate rose higher between the two years than any other, from 45 to 62 percent.

NY Post

“Judges see these cops every day, and they get to know them,” said one who defense lawyer who asked to remain anonymous. “A judge will do whatever he or she can to keep those cops in good moods, especially if an officer’s credibility is questioned.”

An officer admitted to the New York Post that he lied in a recent case in which a driver contested a ticket for failing to signal a lane change.

The motorist told the judge that his signal light wasn’t working. The officer falsely claimed to have checked the light on his own at the scene. The judge ruled in the officer’s favor.

“There’s no f--king way I’m losing my vacation over a vehicle summons,” the officer told Post reporter Brad Hamilton.

In Young’s case, the officer testified that the attorney's car was parked illegally. The judge agreed and found Young guilty.

Young did not file an appeal, but he notes the city court’s declaration – "No appeal shall be permitted unless the fines and penalties assessed by the Hearing Examiner are paid.” He believes that this law undermines the judgment of city drivers.

“That cop who wrote me that ticket was rewarded for what he did because officers and judges bond over their involvement with the law,” Young added. “But now, citizens are guilty until proven innocent. That’s no idea to build a friendship on.”