Tough questions of a bullshit ticket! (update post 102)

[Earendil]

Look man, quit being Hispanic. Be white instead, we get away with WAY more shit.

"I'm not saying that white people are better. I'm saying that being white is CLEARLY better"

[5Toes]

I would definitely do something about this pronto.

Good Luck man!

[thebutcher37]

Good Luck man, sucks that law abiding citizens get caught up one time doing what most of these thuggish fools do on the daily... and we get the "perp" treatment.

[Rsully70sev]

You're going to sound like a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles in court saying "well the photographers didn't get one!"..."the cops are racist!"

That doesn't matter, and it's completely irrelevant-especially if you don't even have proof that other people were even there under the same circumstances as you.

It's like getting pulled over for speeding and saying "didn't you see that Golf pass me at like 90mph?!"...."Uh no, but I got you"

"Railroad rights of way are indeed considered private property--even those owned by public entities such as transit districts. The "roads" often found next to them are generally for use by railroad maintenance of way personnel only. Walking or riding on a railroad right-of-way is trespassing and illegal."

Just because you and everyone else (including me) think's it's bullshit, it still was illegal.

[CHIF8008]

^^^THIS

if your breaking the law, its still breaking the law. now yes they could have just asked you to leave and yes if you get a ticket the other crew should have- but thats just how it happened.

Wrong place at the wrong time/ Pissed off cops

[e30trooper]

maybe if cops didnt pull this shit all the time the general public wouldnt have lost respect for law enforcement. I'm constantly profiled and hastled in my minitruck, but as soon as they see I'm a white boy I have no issues. When said truck was stolen, literally no one gave a rat's ass. They even laughed at me for making a big deal about a pos truck.

If you have the energy, please dont bend over and pay...go get consulted, make them accountable.

thought you was asian lol

[mrsleeve]

"Railroad rights of way are indeed considered private property--even those owned by public entities such as transit districts. The "roads" often found next to them are generally for use by railroad maintenance of way personnel only. Walking or riding on a railroad right-of-way is trespassing and illegal."

Just because you and everyone else (including me) think's it's bullshit, it still was illegal.

THIS

RR are fucking srs about them, the rail yard at home is kinda touchy about pics being taken of it form what I hear

[e30trooper]

i hope you get this osrted out edwin. Ive been fairly lucky the past 3 years with no tickets. Its true tho, if your white and in a nicer area in LA , cops dont even look at you. he hit you up with a hardcore ticket for no reason at all. Fight it! Sign up for Pre Paid Legal. What time of the day was it?

[IRON-E]

Look man, quit being Hispanic. Be white instead, we get away with WAY more shit.

Seriously though, this shit just enrages me. Dude, get a lawyer. Not for the ticket, but so you can sue the railroad for harassing you.

It is called racism, and it is against the law.

Best of luck though. If you start a "I need to hire a lawyer fund", do it. I will help what I can.

Luke

Thanks Luke, I appreciate the thought.

You're going to sound like a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles in court saying "well the photographers didn't get one!"..."the cops are racist!"

That doesn't matter, and it's completely irrelevant-especially if you don't even have proof that other people were even there under the same circumstances as you.

It's like getting pulled over for speeding and saying "didn't you see that Golf pass me at like 90mph?!"...."Uh no, but I got you"

"Railroad rights of way are indeed considered private property--even those owned by public entities such as transit districts. The "roads" often found next to them are generally for use by railroad maintenance of way personnel only. Walking or riding on a railroad right-of-way is trespassing and illegal."

Just because you and everyone else (including me) think's it's bullshit, it still was illegal.

You're right on with just about everything. Except that, we kinda read each other's mind with my buddy and he continued to take pictures of what was going on. He even has a picture of the other cop chatting it up with the model & crew + license plate #s.

I swore, I would never be one of those waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffless, crying about "racism" and shit but the more I think about it, the angrier it makes me, I really did get racially profiled. Hopefully by telling our side of the story, we'll at least get a lower fine. Be sure of this though, I will sue them 2 waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffless for racism, no doubt!

He'll post pictures later on as he gets out of work.

[mrsleeve]

still how do you know they did not have a permit or permission to be there, you dont have to be a pro to get that kinda thing you know

[Earendil]

You're going to sound like a waffleswaffleswaffleswaffleswaffles in court saying "well the photographers didn't get one!"..."the cops are racist!"

That doesn't matter, and it's completely irrelevant-especially if you don't even have proof that other people were even there under the same circumstances as you.

Agreed. However I would still mention the circumstances under which the ticket was given, and the circumstances under which you broke a law that you didn't know existed.

The reality is that though he broke the law, a good judge will see the intention, and see the circumstances, and realize that no one got hurt, nothing bad came of it, and the guilty party acted out of neither negligence or disrespect. They were in fact in pursuit of an art, which I would also point out.

With regards to the pictures you took, I would not point out that you have pictures of the cops or the other people present. If you do anything, show the judge a picture of the art you were trying to produce. Get side tracked talking about how beautiful it was down there.

And I certainly would not hint that it was racism per say. And here is why:
I'm sure the racism gets played in court a lot when it doesn't apply, and a Judge knows this. It is also a very heavy accusation, and doesn't make you action less illegal.

However, Judges are smart people, and can put two and two together. If you mention the circumstances, and don't mention the color of anyone, the judge will automatically visualize the models as being white, and probably knows whether the officers are white. Don't tell the judge why you were questioned and fined, make him wonder if the other party was too, make the judge wonder why it was that you were given a whopping fine for doing something so mundane.

Again, when I was in court I did not tell the judge that the cop was a dick. I didn't tell the judge that the cop's only intent was to pull people over at 2am on an empty road for a freshly painted double line. I told the judge the facts without my personal conclusions. This caused the judge to start to wonder WHY it was that I was not warned, and he started asking me additional questions like "Did you weave or excessively speed?" And a bunch of other questions that I was able to answer "No your honor" to. As I denied more questions from the Judge, it was obvious that the Judge was making his own conclusion, that the Cop had just wasted both our times by giving me a ticket instead of a warning.

I suspect if you do a similar thing, you will be let free. Just remember not to say anything irrelevant that doesn't matter to your guilt. It doesn't matter if other people got a ticket or not, it doesn't matter what color your skin is, it doesn't matter how much of a dick the cop was. What matters are intent, and circumstance. For that, I'd definitely go with ignorance, pursuit of art, saw other people doing it, and at no time did you feel like you or the others were at risk because you did not cross the train tracks.

[IRON-E]

Agreed. However I would still mention the circumstances under which the ticket was given, and the circumstances under which you broke a law that you didn't know existed.

The reality is that though he broke the law, a good judge will see the intention, and see the circumstances, and realize that no one got hurt, nothing bad came of it, and the guilty party acted out of neither negligence or disrespect. They were in fact in pursuit of an art, which I would also point out.

With regards to the pictures you took, I would not point out that you have pictures of the cops or the other people present. If you do anything, show the judge a picture of the art you were trying to produce. Get side tracked talking about how beautiful it was down there.

And I certainly would not hint that it was racism per say. And here is why:
I'm sure the racism gets played in court a lot when it doesn't apply, and a Judge knows this. It is also a very heavy accusation, and doesn't make you action less illegal.

However, Judges are smart people, and can put two and two together. If you mention the circumstances, and don't mention the color of anyone, the judge will automatically visualize the models as being white, and probably knows whether the officers are white. Don't tell the judge why you were questioned and fined, make him wonder if the other party was too, make the judge wonder why it was that you were given a whopping fine for doing something so mundane.

Again, when I was in court I did not tell the judge that the cop was a dick. I didn't tell the judge that the cop's only intent was to pull people over at 2am on an empty road for a freshly painted double line. I told the judge the facts without my personal conclusions. This caused the judge to start to wonder WHY it was that I was not warned, and he started asking me additional questions like "Did you weave or excessively speed?" And a bunch of other questions that I was able to answer "No your honor" to. As I denied more questions from the Judge, it was obvious that the Judge was making his own conclusion, that the Cop had just wasted both our times by giving me a ticket instead of a warning.

I suspect if you do a similar thing, you will be let free. Just remember not to say anything irrelevant that doesn't matter to your guilt. It doesn't matter if other people got a ticket or not, it doesn't matter what color your skin is, it doesn't matter how much of a dick the cop was. What matters are intent, and circumstance. For that, I'd definitely go with ignorance, pursuit of art, saw other people doing it, and at no time did you feel like you or the others were at risk because you did not cross the train tracks.

Thanks dude, your personal experience definitely will come into play when I go see the judge. I never thought that the race card would do me any help anyways, I've worked as a legal assistant before and will pull a few tricks from my sleeve when necessary but just in case, the 2 cops will still get sued for that bullshit regardless. (just to clarify = the cop who issued the tickets was of Asian descent and the back up cop was white or Hispanic) I don't have beef with any one race either.

I understand that my chances are slim and I understand that yes I broke the law but it was unintentionally. So c'mon if I never told you guys about this law, would you have believed it if it happened to you?

[Earendil]

I understand that my chances are slim and I understand that yes I broke the law but it was unintentionally. So c'mon if I never told you guys about this law, would you have believed it if it happened to you?

I certainly wouldn't, because here in WA people cross the train tracks all the time, it's the only way to get to the water usually!

Of course, there is usually one tourist every year that gets creamed by a train. They stand on the tracks taking picture and don't realize that an oncoming train makes almost zero noise. The effect is amplified by the fact that the wind is usually 10-20mph around here.

The only time I've heard of RR types getting pissy about people near the tracks is during the 4th of July.

[Rsully70sev]

And don't get me wrong bro, I'm 1000% on your side, I'm just telling you the blame game doesn't work, and being in LA, neither will the racism card-if you were in bumfuck South Dakota, maybe.

I would play up the scenery, and definitely bring some pictures of what you guys were shooting, that's a great idea. But honestly, in California-police are all about revenue. It wasn't a matter of "protecting anyone" or "preventing a crime" it was about justifying their job, salary, and generating revenue.

[dvck]

i KNOW they didn't have a permit because they were simply asked to leave.

had they had a permit, they show the permit, everything is cool, they keep shooting, but they walked straight to the car, got in and left, not to mention that universal human demeanor of
im taking up on it before minds get changed.