My race is listed incorrectly on my notice to appear. Can this error be used as a defense?

Ethically you don't want to lie, so it doesn't make sense to claim it wasn't you if it was.

However, that being said, there is nothing wrong with putting them to "the test". If you have a representative appear for you while you sit in the audience, it would be very interesting for the court to hear the officer and then have your representative ask the officer to review the ticket for accuracy. If he says it is accurate, ask him to identify you in the courtroom. If he can't, ask for a dismissal. They will then fall back on the information on the ticket. Your car, your CDL, maybe even your height & weight. Just when they claim that info is accurate, the race difference can be raised.

At that point the judge will know that it was just a mistake BUT BUT BUT, if you go about this honestly and with a bit of humor, you might get it thrown out. Heck, maybe even the officer will smile. I have friends who are traffic judges, they'd dump it for sure. (But they're in New York !)

www.Whitecollar.us

I practice here in Florida, and officers are entitled to 'amend' the traffic citation right before hearing to correct any errors that could affect their case. In your case, there would be no need to under FL law, because if the citation contains enough of your personal information to make the court believe that it was, indeed, you that received the citaiton, a couple of misprints here or there would not get the ticket dismissed. You should consider hiring an attorney to help you though, a traffic attorney doesn't cost a whole lot, and over time it's worth it to avoid possible increases in car insurance rates, etc etc.

Good Luck,

It is unlikely to be a "technical" defense to whether or not the u-turn was committed. But it may be useful to challenge whether the officer properly identified the driver who committed the violation. The difficult part is finding a method procedurally to present this error by the officer in a way that persuades the judge or magistrate to question the officer's credibility on other issues as well.

A lawyer may be able to do this better than you representing yourself. The question for you is whether fighting the u-turn ticket is worth hiring a lawyer. That turns on factors beyond this question and answer.

Lenell Nussbaum

In California, the challenge for vagueness and uncertainty is presented as a demurer. The failure to properly indicate your race on the ticket would not give rise to a successful challenge on the basis of vagueness and uncertainty, assuming that the ticket has stated your identify, the approximate time of the offense and the alleged offense. Even if you were incorrectly identified, the law allows for amendment to correctly identify you upon discovery of your identity.