With the new Illinois Speeding Law which makes speeding over 25mph a Class B Misdemeanor and speeding over 40mph a Class A Misdemeanor. Eeach case I work on has to be fought to either have the case reduced to a petty offense, (meaning less then 25mph). This means turning the speeding charge into a regular speeding ticket.
There are two ways to have the case reduced to a regular speeding ticket. First, the prosecutor might agree with me to reduce it. This happens on occasion. However, I have been more successful by setting the case for trial. On the day of trial, the prosecutor will either reduce the ticket or I have to go to trial.
At trial I cross-examine the police officer and the method of establishing your speed. The radar and Lidar units have an error rate of plus or minus 1 mph. In some instances even greater. I use test documents and owner’s manual for the units to show that the units might not have recorded the speed correctly.
For example, yesterday, an Illinois State Police Officer testified that he was using lidar near a Illinois State Toll Plaza that had an IPASS lane. The unit he used was not tested next to such electronic interference and the Judge found my client Not Guilty of speeding over 25mph. However, the Judge did find him guilty of speeding, making the ticket into a petty office.
