I have been told that the judges in Harford County have decided that anyone charged with Reckless Driving for exceeding the postage speed by 30mph are going to jail for 2 days. Now historically the judges in Harford County had a uniform sentencing pattern in certain cases- i.e. 30 days for a second DUI even if you tried it to a jury. They are more flexible now and give weight to mitigation evidence. But this new incarcerable offense may have given rise to a uniform policy .Yesterday I had one and the prosecutor was going to recommend a suspended sentence which was fair and reasonable ( she always is). However the ticket was written in a form that violated a Rule of Procedure. I moved to dismiss it and the judge agreed that it had always violated the rule because written that way (it came out of the automated system in police cars that generate tickets now). I pointed out that years ago one of the DWI tickets likewise violated the same Rule and they had to reprint all the ticket books (manual back then) to correctly charge the offense.Even more years ago, the crime lab report in Baltimore City failed to include the Certification of the analyst and NO drug reports were getting into evidence in my cases. They bought a “Bernstein Stamp” (so named by the undercover police officer who kept losing and complaining to the Department- he was also one of “my police” when I was a prosecutor in the District Court and was then and is now a good friend- that didn’t mean he wanted to lose cases to me.Now as we were arguing yesterday the prosecutor was typing away an email that I think went to the “front office.” I know that as efficient as they are in the Harford County, State’s Attorney’s Office that EVERY Reckless citation will now be reviewed by the District Court supervisor- who I have been trying cases against since she started years ago in Baltimore County- and that a new ticket will issue anytime the car computer spits out the wrong verbiage. The next step will not be a “Bernstein Stamp,” but a “Bernstein Update/upgrade to the automated system.
Eerily, on the way home I got a call from a lawyer who said that he follows my name on Case Search and reads my Blog and knew of the case. He could see I won and wanted to know how as he has one pending in Harford County. I told him what happened but that this only works once and that they will fix his ticket. He has to learn to master the Rules, as it is better to be the creator of Legal Schtick than attempt to piggyback it.