My Written Testimony

[CaptainBubba]

So long story short I got pulled over by a cop who was tailgating me home trying to think of an excuse to pull me over and he does and says i didnt stop at a stop sign. I cant go to court because ill be at college so instead I'm giving the judge my written testimony. Tell me what ya'll think:

Hon. Judge Killilea

I apologize for not being able to appear in court before you. College left me unable to get a continuance. Everything I am writing is the truth. On the night on July 10th while leaving my girlfriend’s home at roughly 11:15 p.m I noticed after exiting her neighborhood that I was being followed, at first from far away then surprisingly quickly from very close behind. My pursuer’s headlights were on very bright and this, combined with fact that he was following closely made me very nervous. During this time there was an intersection with a stop sign where I slowed down, looked left and right, stopped, then took a right turn. The car continued to follow me very closely and on a left turn up further I could see that it was a police officer because his extremely bright lights no longer hindered my rear view mirror from seeing anything but white light. After following me roughly a half mile longer he pulled me over at a stop light. He began by giving me a line of questioning and after learning I had no drugs or alcohol informed me that I rolled through a stop sign, (which confused me as it was some ways back and I didn‘t even recall which intersection he referred to) abruptly stopped my search for my registration and asked me for just my license. He also told me to pull onto the adjacent corner of the street to prevent the light from repeatedly tripping. I realized what stop sign he was referring to as I waited for him to write my ticket and did not believe his claim that I did not stop. When he returned to give me my ticket I challenged the validity of his claim and he became quite angry at me, speaking very loudly and with his face much closer to me. During this time I stated that I was traveling very slowly near the stop sign and he took this to be an excuse, but it was not, as the last thing I said to him was “I don’t believe I rolled through [the stop sign]”. Throughout the entire incident his main points of evidence against me were that he was “right behind me” and that I “just pushed on my brakes”. He even said that I “would have a case” were it not for his position in regards to me, however this is absurd , because since his car was presumably still moving as he watched me from behind, and specifically at my brake lights and their duration, he could not have accurately seen whether my car had come to a complete stop or not, making “right behind me” theoretically the worst possible vantage point for him to determine my stopping. In addition the duration of my brakes is inconsequential for two reasons. Firstly my car is a standard transmission vehicle which means I do not have to keep my brakes on as long as an automatic to come to a stop and my car will slow down faster when I downshift. Secondly my brake time by itself is irrelevant in regards to the law as long as my vehicle stopped, which it did. Regardless of these facts against his testimony I understand that I am not present to defend myself and that the evidence against me may still be found sufficient and in that event I would very much appreciate the opportunity to go to driving school to have this not be placed on my record. I have a clear record thus far and I would state confidently that I was driving safely and doing no one any harm. Thank you very much for your time.

-Alexander P. Chapman