Before I discuss the burden of proof at a civil traffic hearing, I want to discuss a what a civil traffic hearing is first.
If a police officer issues you a civil traffic ticket, you have a right to contest that ticket in court. To do so, you must request a civil traffic hearing on or before the date on your ticket. The court will then set a civil traffic hearing. You (and your attorney if you have one) will show up to court on the date of your civil traffic hearing, and so will the police officer who issued your ticket.
The police officer will testify first about why he thinks you deserved the ticket, and then you will have an opportunity to question the officer, and then to present your case as to why you did not deserve the ticket. It is worth mentioning that the “rules of evidence” found in most court proceedings to not apply in civil traffic hearings, so you can pretty much say or present anything you want, as long as it is “relevant”. The judge may ask some questions too, and then the judge will make a decision.
You will either be found “responsible” for committing the violation, or “not responsible”. If you are found responsible, you will have to pay a fine and the violation will be reported to the MVD. The MVD may impose additional consequences depending on the violation and your driving history. If you are found not responsible, you pay no fine and nothing is reported to the MVD. If the officer fails to appear for the civil traffic hearing (rare, but it does happen), the ticket will be dismissed.
What is the “burden of proof”?
The burden of proof has to do with how certain the judge has to be about whether or not you committed the alleged violation before the judge finds you responsible. In a civil traffic hearing, the burden of proof is a “preponderance of evidence.” In order to find you responsible for the alleged violation, the judge must find by a preponderance of evidence that you committed the alleged violation. In other words, the judge must believe that it was more likely than not that you committed the alleged violation.
Another way to look at it is the judge must believe that there is a greater than 50% chance that you committed the alleged violation. As you can see, this is a very low burden of proof that requires no certainty by the judge that you committed the alleged violation. This is why civil traffic tickets are so difficult to fight. Contrast this with the much higher burden of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt) that applies in criminal cases.
How do you fight a civil traffic ticket with such a low burden of proof?
Your chances of success are best if you have some compelling evidence to support your case. An example might be that the officer ticketed you for traveling 79 mph in a 65mph zone, but the transmission in your vehicle is broken in such a manner that your vehicle is not physically capable to traveling faster than 60 mph. If you could put on evidence to document that, then you could create doubt as to the truth of the officer’s testimony.
Another example might be in the case of a traffic accident ticket. Typically the officer shows up after the accident has occurred, so the officer did not see the events leading up to the accident. If you can put on credible evidence that, say, someone suddenly cut you off causing you to rear-end them, you may be able to create sufficient doubt as to the accuracy of the officer’s statements.
Often, the more detail you can provide, the more credible you will appear to the judge. Consider the defendant who simply says “I wasn’t driving that fast” versus the defendant who says, “I know I was not driving that quickly. I remember that day clearly because I was driving my baby niece to the park and I was very concerned about driving extra safely with her in the car.” Which statement is more credible?
If you have no compelling testimony to present, and your civil traffic hearing will simply be a “he said, she said” between you and the police officer, your chances of success are low. The courts typically find police officers to be very credible witnesses. This is why we always recommend taking defensive driving school to resolve a civil traffic violation if you are eligible. If you are not eligible for defensive driving school, you have nothing to lose by requesting and attending a civil traffic hearing, other than the time it takes to attend the hearing, and there is always the possibility that the officer will not show up.
In my case, the car in front of me made a sudden cut to the left lane on the highway which revealed a line of cars that already stopped. I tried hitting the brakes and turning right to avoid a collision but ended up destroying my left headlight and causing minor damage to back right side of a another car. The driver of the hit car seems to agree with me that it was the fault was the car that made the sudden turn which we reported to the police. Unfortunately, I don’t have a dash cam or any evidence to proof that I wasn’t at fault. Should still I choose the court hearing, if so then what should I say or do?
Hi Kevin, In your situation, I would probably take defensive driving school, if you are eligible (no CDL, haven’t taken it for a ticket in the last 12 months). That will get the charge dismissed. If your insurance thinks you are at fault, then that might change that calculus. At that point, you probably have little to lose by requesting a hearing. If your insurance is paying out, you’re already going to take the insurance hit even if you do defensive driving school. If you win at a civil traffic hearing, then perhaps you can argue with your insurance that you were not at fault.
My issue was that the officer pulled me over after slowing down below the speed limit before reaching a red light on a highway. Like most truck drivers tend to do as a habit, even if they are not driving a truck. The officer came speeding through traffic from nowhere; several minutes after the light turned green. There was nowhere on the road for the officer to hide so if he was not already in traffic and behind a car how could he say I was the car speeding? Immediately, I started recording the stop; add a nothing person to call; called 911 and asked to have a supervisor present because the officer came to the car aggressively. The supervisor never came out; instead, a state troop came, and they attempt to accuse me of refusing to Identify myself, but I had already given my name during the 911 call. Then they went on to bate me into altercation until I reminded them, they were recorded by 911 call. When receiving the ticket it equal to misdemeanor!
Our issue is a citation that came from a citizen, not an officer. This citizen just happens to be my husband’s ex-girlfriend that has been stalking and harassing us for over 13 years. In court she was a witness and her story changed 4 or 5 times, each time getting closer and closer to the definition of “aggressive driving”. With no proof on her (prosecutions) end they convicted my husband. Our lawyer didn’t supply any evidence or witnesses (we have the officer that brought the citation to our house that is on bodycam clearly stating he wouldn’t issue the citation because he knew she was lying. He took her statement with the alleged incident took place and it took her 3 months to do the citation. The entire trial was so orchestrated it wasn’t even funny and once again this same judge rules against us and it’s obvious she made the entire thing up, our court appointed attorney did nothing to deafened my husband (never even met with or called us prior to trial). We filed for new trial and it was denied. Still looking for ways to get justice. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’ve lost all trust with the court system seeing this judge rule with prejudice repeatedly and we have witness to all of this.
In Washington State a person can submit an affidavit that they weren’t in control or possession of the vehicle when they get a “Notice of Infraction”. Must an affidavit be submitted under “penalty of perjury”? Seems to me I should be able to say it wasn’t me, prove it. People plead not guilty all the time even if they have been video taped doing a crime.
Thank you for the great information. I was cited along with the other driver for unsafe lane change. I moved from the far right to the middle lane and was traveling in that lane for a good 200 to 300 feet prior to the collision. Traffic was at a dead stop in the far left lane. The other driver made a hard right pulling into my vehicle from a dead stop. I requested a hearing not knowing the burden of proof is so low. I thought it was clear and convincing for all civil cases. The officer said he was issuing a ticket to both of us. When I looked at the paperwork the office gave me, I found only the citation for the other driver. I wasn’t given paperwork for the citation issued to me. Any chance a motion to dismiss based on this officer’s error might be successful?
In our experience, it is rare that a charge would get dismissed due to an error on the ticket, or because the officer said something bizarre during the traffic stop (we hear police say all sorts of weird things to people). Always happy to talk it through though in more detail if you want to give us a ring.
All this sounds hella unconstitutional. Why don’t you take it to the supreme court? Oh I know because there’s no money in it for you. You and the state are all the same you are completely willing to turn a blind eye to unconstitutional actions if it makes you money. But thanks for the info i’ll try my hardest to do your job for you. I know it will be difficult after all I didn’t go to law school nor do I know all the judges pigs and prosecutors and I sure aint friends with any of em but the only thing you traffic lawyers are good for is information.
Thanks for your interesting comment. To address your question about not taking civil traffic violation cases to the Supreme Court – that is simply not possible. Civil traffic tickets are adjudicated in courts of limited jurisdiction. Any appeal from a court of limited jurisdiction goes to the Superior Court (state trial court level), and stops there, regardless of outcome. It can’t go to the appellate court, it can’t go to the Arizona Supreme Court, and it certainly can’t go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
What about those red light camera systems?
Ticket arrives in mail, you may not receive it as you have no control over the USPS and they are not sent certified.
No proof that you were the driver. Just a picture of a license plate. No ID check or signature taken at time of incident.
Who is even the plaintiff for these?
Hi Dylan,
We have a page that covers most everything you’d ever want to know about photo enforcement: https://trafficlawguys.com/civil-traffic-violations/photo-radar/
The plaintiff in photo enforcement cases is “The State”.
Very good information and on point. Makes total sense. Thank you. I was also told you can request Calibration records for the vehicles radar Detecting system when the last time it was calibrated. you can also request records for the unit that calibrates the Vehicles radar detecting unit. I just don’t know the time frame in which to do so. Thanks again
Hi Rocky,
In a civil traffic case, there is no right to discovery, meaning you cannot compel the State to produce anything. This unfortunately leaves you with making a public records request to get any relevant information you may want for your hearing. We have frequently found this to be problematic. The State often takes a very long time to respond to records requests, and the courts will not always continue the civil traffic hearing to give you time to get what you need. As an example, Phoenix says it takes 8-12 months to respond to a public records request for on-body camera video. It is impossible to delay a civil traffic hearing that long.