Virginia Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Writing False Speeding Tickets
I'm surprised this is making bigger headlines. Our system of justice hinges largely on the integrity of the participants especially prosecutors, police officers, and judges. Fortunately in Virginia most are of the highest integrity.
However, in the town of Crewe, Virginia, Officer William Merritt had a very impressive records of writing more speeding tickets than any other officer particularly on Route 460. One local restaurant worker noticed someone being pulled over every 5-10 minutes. After receiving numerous complaints the officer was put under surveillance and he was found to be writing false tickets. At last count 86 tickets have been thrown out. Unfortunately if you entered a guilty plea to a past ticket issued by this officer there is little you can do. The reality is people plead guilty to traffic offenses for numerous reasons. Sometimes its because they are guilty. For traffic offenses it is often because it is too time consuming and expensive to fight.
Obviously this is off-topic from my usual practice areas of medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, automobile accidents, etc., but it is a story that warrants reporting. For more information, here is a link to Channel 12 News of Richmond, Virginia's story: http://www.nbc12.com/story/24236509/draft-kelly-story and
