Legal Advice for Violations | Rechtswinkel.nl

Questioner

I was stopped by a motorcycle cop in Aug '12. After correction, he noted a speed of 49 km too fast. At that time, I did not receive a paper for the violation. After receiving the report at home, it turned out that the wrong time of the violation was stated. The report states a time of 17:37, but at that time I was still at work and can prove this with a clock-in list from my employer. I work in a shop and was there until after 18:30. Colleagues can also confirm this. That is why I filed an objection and I have to defend my story on 19 Feb '13 at the district court in Haarlem. Should I now deny everything there or just tell the truth because I was stopped? According to my legal expenses insurance, I have a good chance of being waived due to a formal error. They cannot help me because they do not handle criminal cases. This is an amount of €536,- and in the 35 years that I have been riding a motorcycle I have never received a registered speeding ticket. I would like your advice.

Lawyer

You have received a summons in which it is stated that you are accused of having committed offence X on day X, at time X. You have already filed an objection to this and can prove that you could not have done what is stated in the charge (due to the time). However, an error in the summons does not immediately invalidate it. This means that the public prosecutor can correct the summons during the hearing. In this case, I actually expect that the judge will not attach such major (positive) consequences to this for you. You can also contact the legal help desk: http://www.juridischloket.nl/vraagenantwoord/politie-justitie/voorkomen/fout-in-dagvaarding/Pages/default.aspx This also means that the evidence you have provided will no longer be valid when the summons is amended. Regarding the amount of the penalty, the judge may be more lenient if you have never received such a fine for speeding before.