Out here in Sonoma County there is a very interesting legal battle going on right now over a speeding ticket. This case is getting national attention and it’s outcome could have a major effect on the future of speeding tickets across the nation.
It all started back on July 4th after 17-year-old Shaun Malone was pulled over on Lakeville Highway in Petaluma after motorcycle officer Steve Johnson used his radar gun to clock Malone’s 2000 Toyota Celica GTS going 62 mph in a 45 mph zone. Malone was given a $190.00 speeding ticket and sent on his way.
However Malone’s family contends that a GPS system they installed in the teen’s car to track his speed shows him driving 45 mph at virtually the same time and at the same place where the officer said he was exceeding the speed limit.
Malone’s stepfather happened to be Roger Rude, a retired lieutenant of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, who served for over 20 years as the area’s law enforcement media spokesperson. Over this time he was able to build up lots of relationships and influence among both law enforcement and the court systems in the area. Thus he knew exactly how to fight this speeding ticket and has decided to turn this case into an expensive legal battle involving local officials, lawyers, and satellite technology experts pitting the newer global positioning system technology installed in his son’s car against the time-tested police radar gun.
This is a rather unusual position for Rude, whose career was spent defending the law.
The citation issued to Malone by Officer Johnson noted that the violation occurred at 7:45 a.m. at Lakeville and South McDowell and that the teen was going 62 mph. The time and location are approximations. In his notes, Johnson noted a spot 400 feet west of South McDowell — but it’s unclear whether that is where he started tracking the car or where he pulled the trigger on the radar gun. Officers are supposed to visually track a vehicle before noting speed with radar, which is supposed to confirm those observations.
Malone’s GPS tracker, timed to record his location every ten seconds, reported that he was going a maximum of 45 mph at 7:43 a.m. The latitude and longitude coordinates placed the Celica about 300 feet west of South McDowell, a difference of 100 feet as noted in the officer’s written description of the encounter.
Lt. Rude said it would have been impossible for his stepson to accelerate or slow 17 mph to equal 62 mph over that short distance. In his affidavit, the former lawman offers several possibilities for the discrepancy in the two accounts, including that the radar gun’s calibration may have been off or that another vehicle may have been caught in the radar’s sights. He also suggests Johnson may have been in a hurry.
Carl Fors, president of Speed Measurement Laboratories Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas-based company that specializes in radar technology, trains police around the country in the use of radar. He said it is subject to both human and technical error. In one notable example, he said an officer he observed using radar clocked a rock going 72 mph. The error was caused by the heater fan blowing air inside the officer’s car. He said the CHP was forced to dismiss a case every few months because the calibrations on the radar gun were off. “I used to have situations where officers in part of the county would pull two or three cars over at once, and it would be difficult for them to sort out who did what to whom,” he said. Some law enforcement agencies now use laser speed detectors, which are more accurate and can reach longer distances. Fors said some models also can take photos to match the targeted vehicle.
Sgt. Tim Lyons, who oversees the traffic unit, said that Officer Johnson has been handling traffic cases for six years and is trained on how to use radar. “He knows how to work traffic and write speeding tickets. I would trust his judgment,” Lyons said. Lyons also questioned the GPS’s accuracy. “GPS can be hampered by cloud cover, power lines, tall trees — almost anything that blocks the signal from the satellites. And there’s nothing to say that the person using it hasn’t tampered with the device.” He also says that there may be more of a delay with GPS than there is with a police officer and his radar gun.
But so long as the sky is clear and the device is working properly, GPS trackers are accurate within 1 mph, said Rick Fry, chief information officer for Rocky Mountain Tracking Inc., a Colorado-based company that supplied Malone’s unit. He said the company’s system is the same the Air Force uses to fly drones. The case has been submitted to Commissioner Carla Bonilla, who will issue a ruling. Malone can appeal that decision.
The case has attracted national attention for potentially setting a precedent for using GPS to contest speeding tickets, which is becoming standard in vehicles as a mapping or tracking device.Legal experts say that this case will most likely be appealed to the State Court System within a few months and has the potential for eventually reaching the Supreme Court.
In the United States, this is the first record of this GPS technology being used to this extent to fight a speeding ticket. If Malone wins this case, it may mean that GPS devices can be used in future cases to contest speeding tickets in court. The ruling in the case could have a major effect on the future of traffic control across the nation.
Click here to see an AP News Video on this case.