Attempted robbery in Maryland

[Giggan]

Negative cop encounter story, advice appreciated.

Driving from NH to Florida for school, I scheduled a stop overnight in NY with relatives and a stop overnight in Maryland just outside of DC at a friend's house. On my way to MD from NY, I got off at an exit to avoid a toll. I was on the right road to get back towards the highway, but Mapquest had I-95 being much closer to this road than it actually was. Directions said I'd meet the highway in 2 miles, and in reality it was about 8.

On this back road, I cross into Maryland from Delaware, and am seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I drive maybe 5 miles down this road and conclude I must have missed the highway (which in reality I hadn't hit yet) and head back towards the last intersection where I remember seeing a sign for the highway. I turn around at the intersection, and sure enough, it points me straight, as though I've been going the right way. I approach the intersection, and the light is green. I consider whether the sign could be twisted, thus pointing the wrong way. I start going right, and in the intersection, change my mind, back up, and decide to go left. Obviously, there's no one around, otherwise this would be an impossible maneuver. I go through the intersection, what in actuality is left on green, but from the cop car several hundred feet down the road would appear to be straight on red. I drive down this road not assuming the approaching car was driven by a man with a badge and a gun who thinks he has authority because of words that politicians wrote on paper. After a few moments driving down this road, I notice someone's right on my tail. It appears to be a crown vic. I signal that I'm pulling over to let him pass, and the blues ignite. I pull over, license ready.

We exchange greetings. When he asks how its going, I respond "lost". He says he could sorta tell. He asks where I'm headed, I explain and he says he can help. He asks if I know why he pulled me over. I respond because I must have been telegraphing that I was lost. He mentions the light. I don't fully explain because he doesn't seem to care, I just say I was actually making a left, because I started going right, backed up and corrected my position. I hand him my license without his asking and tell him I don't have my registration on me, but that its my mother's car and if he needs any more info about it he can ask me. I've been pulled over several times before for miniscule reasons, and not having registration on me has never been a problem. He doesn't say that it will be an issue,  he just asks for my passenger's ID, which he provides, and tells me when he returns to the car he'll get me pointed in the right direction and we'll be on our way. I thank him and get the impression he's an authentically nice guy who will help me out.

We sit in the car for about 10 minutes before he returns. When he does, he has a warning in hand for the red light, which I was somewhat shocked he bothered drawing up. Written warnings are useless paperwork considering I planned on being outta the state in under 24 hours. I then learned why he drew up a written warning. Because underneath, he had a ticket ready for not having registration immediately available. I ask respectfully if that's really a ticket, and he says yes, it's a $40 fine. He claims he let me "off easy" giving me this instead of the red light, which wasn't even an actual violation either. I instantly ask my friend to check the glove compartment to find the registration, which I doubted was in there but worth a try. He says if I find it now, it doesn't matter because the ticket's been written (as though he couldn't just not file it when he gets back to HQ. I realize this is something they do to stop drivers from complaining once its written, just making it seem as though there's no taking it back). This officer could see I was on a major trip and the car was packed full with luggage. Clearly he is trying to exploit the fact that I'm not going to be back in his state to fight some petty charges and is pleased to dump another $40 into the system. I tell him in my native state, a driver has 48 hours to produce registration. He replies that's not the case in Maryland. Most CJ workers and professors I know tell me to tell cops if I get pulled over that I'm a CJ student, but I don't do that because I shouldn't get special treatment because of my field of study. It quickly goes from a friendly stop to me in lawyer mode trying to figure the officer and everything on the 'ticket' out. He tells me I have to sign the ticket, but that it's not an admission of guilt. I ask if I am legally obligated to sign it. He says no. I ask if not producing registration is an arrestable offense. He says no. Then I say I won't sign if not legally obligated. He then says he would write me a ticket for not signing it if I refused. I then state that I am legally obligated in that case. I tell him I will sign since he tells me there will be a penalty for not signing, but only after reading the entire document. I keep reading and asking questions, about the "not guilty" process which I tell him I will take, and he says all the info is on the ticket and pamphlet he's given me. I tell him I'd like to read that as well. He responds he's not gonna stand out on the side of the road all night, and to only read and sign the ticket. I tell him I need some information first, please. I get out a pen and paper. I ask his name, he gives me "Trooper (last name)". I ask how to spell that. He says it's on the ticket. I reply jokingly and respectfully that I've never seen a ticket where any name is legible but the recipient's. He then gives me the spelling. Sure enough when I check later, his name is two scribbled lines on the ticket. I record the time and date, ask the town which we are in (Elkton, MD), and sign the ticket after another overview. He gives me directions, informing me I'll hit the highway in a few miles on this road or the one I was on, and they turn out being accurate. Good news was I avoided the toll. Bad news, they're threatening me for $40 over a BS charge.

According to the ticket, it isn't like NH where you plea and send it in, it's either you send it in as guilty, or if they don't receive it they assume you want a trial and send you the info in the mail. With the ticket in a pamphlet is a buncha randomness from MD State troopers "we hope you enjoyed your traffic stop, we're keeping you safe" kinda stuff. It says what troopers should do on a stop (give their name upon greeting was something he did not do). Attached to this pamphlet is a piece you can mail to the MD State Police which says "Commendation/Complaint Form". If you wish to fill it out, it asks your name, address, phone #, date, time, and location of incident, trooper's name and ID, and 4 lines to describe encounter. I can't imagine many people are happy enough to make a commendation on a stop, and I'd gander if there was a legitimate complaint, it would take more than 4 lines to describe. Such is bureaucracy. Anyways, I don't really have an interest in filing a complaint against the trooper, even though I feel what he did was ridiculous and immoral, I'd rather file a complaint against the system which allows this to occur. I will be accepting the 'Not Guilty' plea if they ever put it in front of me. If they demand I appear in court, I'm going to continue to file for extensions, as I don't ever plan on returning to Elkton, Maryland, nor do I have the opportunity. If for some reason they demand I pay even though I'm not guilty, I'm going to file the "I don't have any money" papers which is no lie, I'm living on a fixed income off of student loans for the next two years and couldn't shell out $40 to the mob even if I found it morally acceptable. I think I know what I'm going to do for now, wait to get their papers in the mail and go about pleading Not Guilty. I may also write a letter to whoever I can get help from and explain the situation, that I was on my way through the state, was stopped for something I didn't do (though it may appear I did, I still didn't) and was clearly packed to the brim and unable to find my registration in the vehicle and was exploited for it. I could tell the cop thought I'd roll over and play sheep with the $40 ticket because his attitude immediately changed when I began asking questions. Granted he never got 'mean' (aside from the robbery) but he went from friendly guy in a costume to authority figure with a badge who could do whatever the 'law' allowed. In retrospect, perhaps I should have signed the ticket with an "X", which I could refuse to either confirm or deny was my signature in the future, and they could go to town trying to do handwriting analysis on an X. Additionally, I may include in my defense that I never consented to become a subject of Maryland law, nor implied any consent as I've never taken part in their demoncratic process. If anyone has similar stories and advice, anything at all, greatly appreciated. PS, don't get pulled over in Maryland.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

That's okay citizen, your money is going to good use in Maryland! There's no way we could keep all those nut cases with guns from running wild unless we have a steady supply of funds!

Not sure if NH has extridition agreements, but I know people in Virginia who have been arrested and transported over minor violations. The People's Republik Of Maryland wants it's money!

[Giggan]

Where do I read about extradition? And would it help me to file a complain from that pamphlet? I do intend to stay in contact with 'them' over this, but I do not intend to pay.

[David]

Sorry about your luck.     I seriously doubt you will get extridited for a 40 dollar plus penalties, fees etc.  Of course if they do, don't give the bastards a single penny, and make it a civ. dis issue. Don't give them any money, and extridition implies you are already in jail, stay there rather than pay fines.  In most states they credit fines towards jail time, so they will let you out relatively quickly.  That is a worst case scenario though.   
You may consider trying to get a waiver on hardship reasons.  Send a letter to the judge stating you reasons, plus that in your state you are not required to have registration on demand.  Who knows, maybe the judge will let you go of the fine. 

[Atlas]

If you're planning on being an officer at some point, you're gonna have to pay up dude.

[David]

If you planning on being an officer at some point, you're gonna have to pay up dude.

I somehow missed that point.  You can't effectively fight the system, while drawing a paycheck from it.  At some point you will censor yourself to maintain the cash flow.   

[Giggan]

I'd like to keep my options open, and I haven't tied myself to anything yet.

A friend of mine who actually fled NH because he was going to lose his license for a long period of time came down to Florida and said it hasn't caught up with him yet (though he's had other driving incidents down here). He said since its not a moving violation, there will be no communication between the states. Like I said, I plan on keeping open communication with Maryland, but I'm not going back there and not paying unless they literally point the guns of gov't at me (attempt arrest, which would not even be worth their time/money). From what I've seen when you're open with the bureaucrats they're less likely to get hostile then if you just cease to recognize them.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

As far as the whole "being a cop" thing, I don't think it was said flat out he wanted to be a cop. I know that when I went to college I did some "Criminal Justice" which covered the process and some of the forensic studies.

You have to take "criminal justice" to work in a forensics lab even if you're not working for the state. Protection services would be in demand for a free market society, so they could still be valuable skills under the heading of "criminal justice".

All bets are off when he joins the academy!

[WithoutAPaddle]

I'd like to keep my options open, and I haven't tied myself to anything yet.

A friend of mine who actually fled NH because he was going to lose his license for a long period of time came down to Florida and said it hasn't caught up with him yet (though he's had other driving incidents down here). He said since its not a moving violation, there will be no communication between the states.

Things are changing.  I got a speeding ticket in Vermont in 1980 or 1981 that I didn't pay.  I had given it to my boss who gave me an unreasonable delivery schedule to meet and told him to pay it.  I know that doesn't absolve me of my responsibility to pay it, but I didn't really care at the time whether it got paid or not. 

In 2003, when I went to renew my New Hampshire driver's license, they refused to renew it because my, "Vermont Driver's License" was under suspension. 

I told them I never had a Vermont driver's license.  Well, apparently, any state can now issue you a driver's license and suspend it, and if they do, your name will be in a data base that is checked in New Hampshire at license renewal time, and surely can be checked by other state's vehicle bureaus as well. 

I had to pay the fine ($80 maybe? I don't remember) plus a penalty ($35?) to get my Vermont License restored, so that New Hampshire would then renew my New Hampshire license.

Now things are even faster.  I do business in and drive in 14 states, and got two rinky dink tickets in Washington, DC.  One was for failure to display a valid plate (the vehicle was registered but someone had stolen the plate, and since I work on the road, I didn't bother to have the replacement plate mailed to me because I might not be where it arrived) and failure to furnish proof of insurance ( My insurance was current, but GEICO re-issues certificates every six months rather than every year, and I didn't have the newest one).

I was late in paying the two $30 fines and the payment crossed the Washington DC suspension order in the mail.  But then, I got a letter from the New Hampshire DMV saying my New Hampshire license WAS suspended, effective two months from now, because of the Washington suspension.  The grammar was a little strained, but I kind of got the picture.  But the same day, the New Hampshire DMV issued a second notice, saying that the previous notice was "rescinded".  Unfortunately, it didn't say if it was rescinded because it was issued by mistake or if it was because DC notified them that I had in fact paid the fines.

So the possible lesson(s) from this are that if Maryland chooses to create and then suspend a "Maryland Driver's License" for the original poster for failing to pay a ticket issued to him for failing to produce a valid registration, then it is possible that New Hampshire may then issue him a delayed suspension, as it issued me, or it may not, if my initial New Hampshire suspension was rescinded because of a procedural error on New Hampshire's part, or this whole matter might hang him up at renewal time.

There used to be a valid reason to at least financially penalize a driver for "failure to produce a valid registration", since it used to otherwise take hours for an officer to independently determine whether a vehicle was registered, but now that the confirmation is near instantaneous, or "real-time" in computerese, I don't see any public purpose served by such a policy.  If a vehicle's registration is not current, then the officer will learn that while processing the ticket and he can then write the offense as operation of an unregistered vehicle if that is in fact what the driver was doing.

By the way, if anyone shows up at a hearing on the matter in a Maryland court and shows the DA a copy of the valid registration certificate, the DA will recommend that it be "nol processed".  Unfortunately, it costs an out-of stater more than the amount of the fine to personally appear. 

I would think that their Court system should allow a so-ticketed driver to accomplish the same thing by mailing the registration in with the ticket, and so the original poster might as well try it.  The letter should be addressed to the Clerk of the Court or to the District attorney, if his name or the name of his office appears on the ticket or summons, rather than to the Judge, as Court Rules explicitly forbid addresssing a judge by any means other than a "Motion".  I think it should say that the vehicle was registered at the time the citation was issued, that the statute violated is now obsolete, that you have been told that it is common practice in Maryland Courts to "nol process" such matters if someone appears in Court in his proper person with a valid registration and that it is unfair to out-of staters for them to not have the same redress available that they would have if they were local, and of course include a certified copy of the current registration, which you can obtain inexpensively from the New Hampshire DMV.

[WithoutAPaddle]

A little off-topic, but...

Back in the mid 1970s, when New Hampshire first started using thermal printers when issuing registrations, the ink was so bad that it would completely disappear either from being bleached from the sun if the registration was stored in a clear plastic window on the backside of a sun-visor, or it could be completely dissolved away by the trace amounts of tanning solution still present in wallet leather.  There are a lot of horror stories from that era of truckers being hung up for hours or even days when routinely presenting their New Hampshire registrations at out-of-state weigh stations.

[error]

I actually know exactly where Elkton, Md., is, for various reasons. The highways there are indeed confusing. And you should have stayed on I-95.

[Atlas]

As far as the whole "being a cop" thing, I don't think it was said flat out he wanted to be a cop. I know that when I went to college I did some "Criminal Justice" which covered the process and some of the forensic studies.

You have to take "criminal justice" to work in a forensics lab even if you're not working for the state. Protection services would be in demand for a free market society, so they could still be valuable skills under the heading of "criminal justice".

All bets are off when he joins the academy!

I remember seeing Giggan and his mom on NH Capital Access--I could've swore he mentioned eventually going to an academy. Either way, I'm not hating on him for it. I just wanted to say that no matter what avenue of the public CJ system one involves oneself, you have to pay up on your tickets and such. Originally, I planned to use my BA in CJ as a LEO, but listening to FTL and watching Sam's videos have changed my mind. I guess I'll be one of the many that don't use their degree in the said field. Oh well, Liberty is more important...

[K. Darien Freeheart]

 

That's sad to hear on so many levels.

[Giggan]

Thanks for all the info, I'll definitely keep in touch with Maryland after hearing all that (though I was planning to anyways).

As for the academy, I think I commented they'd make me cut my hair, don't worry, I'm not signed up to go.

[bouncer]

The other issue is if you do not pay they will revoke your driving privileges in their state and some states will revoke your drivers license in your home state if they revoke your right to drive in another state, so for refusing extortion from another state your home state will make you a criminal in your home state and extort money for themselves until you pay the extortion in the other state Nice Huh ?