posted on Jun, 12 2008 @ 01:15 PM
I have visited this site for a long time now and have always maintained it as 1 of my favorites, not only for the interesting articles but because I
find it an extremely intelligent forum with always well thought out analytical arguments. I have not ever post on the site, not even anonymously,
I've just enjoyed being a reader. Last night however, I experienced what I believe was a violation of my rights in an ever increasing police-state,
that I felt such a strong urge to create and account and share my experience.
Before I re-account the situation, I feel it is important that I give you a little character background of myself to enlighten you with as many facts
of the case that I can. I am a male from Canada, university educated and have been employed since finishing university. I have always been a law
abiding citizen and have never had any problems with the police force, and a completely clean driving record. My last ticket was 4 years ago, a
speeding ticket, for which I was found driving 98km/h in an 80km/h, no demerit points were deducted(our demerit system is about the same as the
US).
On Monday (06/09) I was driving home from work (I work 7am-3pm) the same route I have taken for the last 3 years with my spouse in the front passenger
seat. In the intersection right before my condo, at this day and time, there was a traffic officer directing traffic since there was some construction
taking place on the corner of one of the streets. In order to enter the underground parking of my condo, I have to make a left at this intersection in
which the left hand street I am turning onto is a 1-way street. I was in the left hand turning lane observing the officer directing the some of the
cars in front of me the appropriate time to turn left. As I approach the intersection with my left hand turning signal already on, and in the
dedicated left hand turning lane, which has no time of day restrictions. The officer starts motioning to me to stop, not make the left and continue
driving through straight the intersection. I motioned to the officer that I was trying to enter the building 50 yards down street of the left hand
turn and I had to make this left. This is also really the only practical way to enter the parking garage without having to drive the wrong way down
another 1-way street. While continually observing the officer, both my spouse and saw the officer finally motion allowing me to make the left hand
turn, as he had with earlier cars and when it was safe to do so. I made the left and entered my building. Now keep in mind that this is Monday at
about 4pm the latest.
Last night, Wednesday at 11pm, there was a banging on my condo suite door. I looked through the peephole and saw there was an officer dressed in full
swat attire, minus the helmet and M-16, however he was still carrying 2 handguns, one strapped to his leg and a taser strapped to his chest. I asked
him if there was a problem he indicated to me that he saw me make an illegal left hand turn on Monday afternoon. In shock that this is why he was
here, I explained to him my account of the situation, as I did above, and also had my spouse, the witness, there as well to verify the account. The
officer stated to my surprise that this was not the case and proceeded to enter my apartment. I objected to him in the most calmest of fashions that
at this time I was not going to let him enter my apartment without a warrant. I told him I would be comfortable speaking with him the hallway, outside
of my condo door. I was already uncomfortable with him from the accusations he was making. He refused to leave the apartment, and I brought up the
warrant issue again, but he kept explaining the he could come in without 1. He even logged his foot under the door to ensure that it wouldn't close
accidentally. From taking many undergraduate law course in university (I am not a lawyer, I work for a radio station), I knew he was violating at
least 1 of my rights. He then told me he was the traffic officer on duty on Monday, and he was here at 11pm at night 2 days later, to write me 2
tickets. 1 for an illegal left hand turn and the second for disobeying a traffic officer. With both my spouse and I shocked, we both explained that we
saw him direct us left, as he did with the other cars. I then explained to him, again in an extremely calm fashion, that I have never heard of
anything like this happening before, and that I felt it was unjustified. I told him I would be contesting the ticket on at least the grounds that I
did not believe it was unconstitutional that the ticket could be issued to more than 2 days after the incident, and the particular city I live in,
traffic tickets have to be given at the scene so the officer can rightfully identify the driver. Years ago we had red-light camera system around the
city, however the provincial court starting ruling them as unconstitutional since people were not being sited for the offense at the scene. Already
knowing this, I thought it was very similar to what I was experiencing. Had the officer visited me on the Monday night, preferably before 11pm, I may
have been more understanding, but still I knew his claims were out right false. In any case, the officer proceeded to write me both tickets, for a
total of $220 Cdn and 5 demerits.
This morning, still a bit shocked from last night, I contacted a lawyer friend of mine and explained the incident. His exact words were, "In my 35
years of practice, I have never heard of such a thing happening". But as a corporate lawyer, he was not exactly sure what was violated, aside from
the officer entering the apartment, but was positive some right had been violated. His advice was to contest the tickets to
I do plan to contest both tickets and set trial dates for them, but I wanted to know the opinion of other readers of this site and any suggestions
they might have.
Thank you for your advice.