4 ms·

I've had a cop try to boost charges from non-injury careless driving to injury careless driving. The ticket had a check-box for "injury" on it. The cop underl

I've had a cop try to boost charges from non-injury careless driving to injury careless driving. The ticket had a check-box for "injury" on it. The cop underlined it instead of checking the box when the other driver was unharmed. If confronted she would just say she meant to strike through. If I did nothing and pleaded no-contest I would be getting myself into a massive injury lawsuit. Sometimes incompetence is not incompetence.

giantg2 6y ago
True, and it can be hard to tell sometimes. Sometimes they'll upgrade the charge or write a false charge because many people just plead guilty so they can pay the fine and get on with their lives. I'm glad you paid attention. My wife once picked up an old traffic cone that had been abandoned in a ditch for more than 30 days. An officer wrote her a citation and she just plead guilty and mailed the fine in. She didn't realize it was for a misdemeanor when the officer was supposed to write it for a summary offense. She kept getting denied when applying for jobs and found out that was the reason. She had to get a lawyer to get it correct - at her expense. (This was long before we met) A local police department was spreading similar misinformation on Facebook about something being a misdemeanor when it should have been a summary offense. I ended up having to get the DA involved to set them straight so they wouldn't ruin someone else's life.
- SpelingBeeChamp 6y ago
  >Sometimes they'll upgrade the charge or write a false charge because many people just plead guilty How do you know that, and where do you live that the police file charges? That's typically the job of a prosecutor. >A local police department was spreading similar misinformation on Facebook about something being a misdemeanor when it should have been a summary offense. I ended up having to get the DA involved to set them straight so they wouldn't ruin someone else's life. Would you provide more information about the local police department and the "something?" And how would it ruin someone's life if they thought that 'something' carried greater consequences than it actually did? For example, if the police refer to "jaywalking" as "felony jaywalking," that doesn't actually make it a felony, nor does it mean that if someone jaywalks that they would have a felony on their record. No?
  - giantg2 6y ago
    Many lesser offenses are handled via a summary trial at the local Magistrate in Pennsylvania. The officer is the one representing the state/prosecution in those instances. The DA will typically not get involved (currently going through this). Most of the time I believe it is incompetence or complacency/laziness that would be the cause for incorrect charges. But I have heard of cops screwing someone over by writing the wrong thing (I have friend who are cops and tell stories). The township police posted info stating that the new 'purple paint' law makes trespassing (defiant) an M3 when a property is posted with purple paint. In reality it only adds purple paint as an alternative to using a sign and carries the same grading as signs (summary offense). If they issue a citation under the wrong grading and someone just pleads guilty to pay the fine, then that misdemeanor can ruin their life by preventing them from passing background checks required by most 'good' jobs and would require expensive legal representation to correct it (see my previous comment on my wife's situation). The jaywalking example isn't really the same since there is no felony grading of jaywalking. If you look at the prior example of trespassing, that could be graded as S, M3, or M1 depending on the elements of the offense. If the officer is complacent, lazy, incompetent, or malicious, then they might write your citation for the M3 grading even if you didn't meet the definition - you would have to be told in-person to leave and refuse to leave for it to be an M3.
    - SpelingBeeChamp 6y ago
      Thank you for the detailed explanation. That was helpful and clear.

giantg2 6y ago

True, and it can be hard to tell sometimes. Sometimes they'll upgrade the charge or write a false charge because many people just plead guilty so they can pay the fine and get on with their lives. I'm glad you paid attention. My wife once picked up an old traffic cone that had been abandoned in a ditch for more than 30 days. An officer wrote her a citation and she just plead guilty and mailed the fine in. She didn't realize it was for a misdemeanor when the officer was supposed to write it for a summary offense. She kept getting denied when applying for jobs and found out that was the reason. She had to get a lawyer to get it correct - at her expense. (This was long before we met) A local police department was spreading similar misinformation on Facebook about something being a misdemeanor when it should have been a summary offense. I ended up having to get the DA involved to set them straight so they wouldn't ruin someone else's life.

SpelingBeeChamp 6y ago
>Sometimes they'll upgrade the charge or write a false charge because many people just plead guilty How do you know that, and where do you live that the police file charges? That's typically the job of a prosecutor. >A local police department was spreading similar misinformation on Facebook about something being a misdemeanor when it should have been a summary offense. I ended up having to get the DA involved to set them straight so they wouldn't ruin someone else's life. Would you provide more information about the local police department and the "something?" And how would it ruin someone's life if they thought that 'something' carried greater consequences than it actually did? For example, if the police refer to "jaywalking" as "felony jaywalking," that doesn't actually make it a felony, nor does it mean that if someone jaywalks that they would have a felony on their record. No?
- giantg2 6y ago
  Many lesser offenses are handled via a summary trial at the local Magistrate in Pennsylvania. The officer is the one representing the state/prosecution in those instances. The DA will typically not get involved (currently going through this). Most of the time I believe it is incompetence or complacency/laziness that would be the cause for incorrect charges. But I have heard of cops screwing someone over by writing the wrong thing (I have friend who are cops and tell stories). The township police posted info stating that the new 'purple paint' law makes trespassing (defiant) an M3 when a property is posted with purple paint. In reality it only adds purple paint as an alternative to using a sign and carries the same grading as signs (summary offense). If they issue a citation under the wrong grading and someone just pleads guilty to pay the fine, then that misdemeanor can ruin their life by preventing them from passing background checks required by most 'good' jobs and would require expensive legal representation to correct it (see my previous comment on my wife's situation). The jaywalking example isn't really the same since there is no felony grading of jaywalking. If you look at the prior example of trespassing, that could be graded as S, M3, or M1 depending on the elements of the offense. If the officer is complacent, lazy, incompetent, or malicious, then they might write your citation for the M3 grading even if you didn't meet the definition - you would have to be told in-person to leave and refuse to leave for it to be an M3.
  - SpelingBeeChamp 6y ago
    Thank you for the detailed explanation. That was helpful and clear.