One day I went from Western WA to Eastern WA to go trout fishing and on the way home I got a speeding ticket I wanted to get out of.

I went to the website www.nolo.com for legal information (and not just random people’s opinions). Here’s what I learned and how I beat it:

A ticket is like any other legal proceeding and you are entitled to due process. That means the same rules that apply to any trial apply here. Specifically, you have the right to see any evidence the prosecution has (called discovery). So I immediately sent a letter to the prosecutor (this was in Kittatas County) via certified mail (so I would have proof they received it). I requested copies of the traffic report or any write up by the officer or other evidence.

I also read that you should always take a ticket without making a big deal out of it so you are not memorable (I blew that part). As for requesting reports on the model and calibration of the radar gun, my fuzzy memory is they usually calibrate daily so this can be a waste of time/effort and just piss a judge off.

The prosecutor has 30 days to reply. My court date was something like 31 days after the letter was received so I was cutting it close. But I never got a reply by my court date.

I went to court and when it was my turn I asked for the case to be dismissed because the prosecutor had failed to reply to my request for discovery. I gave the judge a copy of my letter and the documentation they had received it (printed off the USPS website). No officer was present. Case dismissed