Was this private property or not? Did you have permission?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no, you didn't have permission as one of your first thoughts was "being charged with trespassing". I'm guessing you didn't defend yourself very well, as you ended up with a ticket. You and the cops could have driven to property owner's residence and worked everything out, showing the cops that you had permission to be there. But then again, if you didn't have permission, there wouldn't be much to say except "You caught me! I'm sorry." A 'reckless driving' ticket can be given for a number of things. (burnouts, driving on curb, driving through yards, ect.)

If you're doing something illegal, don't complain about it when you get caught by the law!

Also, if my above assumption is wrong (as you have no posted since the start of the thread), my apologies.

I hate to see when people think ALL cops are arseholes and just out there to give tickets. I'll be graduating in 2010 with a degree in Criminal Justice & Psychology. I plan on joining a "larger" department in Iowa and hopfully changing some people's views toward police, among other things (SWAT)...

 

Reckless op can be written ANYWHERE. Even in the middle of the desert with no roads w/in 100 mi on YOUR private property (as long as the cop had PC to be there & witness you). It can even be written for a go-kart or dirt bike.

But that ticket sounds pretty bogus, and you shouldn't have much trouble getting it dismissed as long as you're calm, honest, & well-spoken with the ADA.

You can also fight it in court based on the vehicle you were in. "Reckless" literally means you didn't "reckon" (know or care) what the consequences of your driving would be. If you're in a lifted 4WD truck on big tires, that's fairly convincing that you know & understand what happens when you drive thru a mud puddle.

 

so basically your saying that im not free to offroad on my own property? even though a police officer has no jurisdiction on it? a federal official such as a game warden i could maybe understand, maybe, but not a regular cop. he would have to have permission to even be on the property correct?if no crime has been committed and no evidence of wrongdoing of some sort of crime he would have to get a warrant to even be on the premises i thought

 

That's actually the way it is supposed to work - the cop could have "investigated", but chose to write what he saw as a crime. In court, you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but the cop doesn't have that burden - especially with motor vehicles involved. If you walk into court with the landowner's permission (rather have the land owner if possible), you show innocence. At that point, the DA needs to prove guilt. If you walk in without any evidence, it's your word versus the cop and the law is likely to find in favor of the cop. With permission from the landowner, you can probably avoid court all together. No permission? Pay the fine.

 

Not sure about all states here as some will be different. In WI and many others, and officer does have authority on private land as long as it is in his jurisdiction. If it was here, the reason you got beaned with reckless driving is because only certain driving / traffic offenses can be issued on private property.
1. Reckless driving
2. Hit & Run
3. OWI

So, unless you were putting yourself or others in danger of bodily harm, I believe the reckless driving was a push and you might want to give it a shot in court. I would.

 

Your fine as long as your not being reckless, which means putting yourself / others, or property in danger of bodily harm. No an "regular cop" has the same authority as a game warden, just on his own jurisdiction where as a warden usually has a bigger area. A regular officer can go on "open" land just as easy as a warden if he has reasonable suspicion, which doesn't take much.

 

HMFIC,

Where are you at, I'm near Fond du Lac.

 

You're free, but a cop can cite you if he thinks you're behaving recklessly.If your property is in his jurisdiction, then he has jurisdiction there.Federal cops don't enforce traffic law - certainly not game wardens. But game wardens DO have more power to search & seize than any other law enforcement agent.If he can see you behaving recklessly, he can enter and stop/cite you, even your property is posted. If it's not posted, he doesn't need a warrant - anyone can enter, until you personally tell them to leave. But once he's seen you breaking the law, he doesn't have to leave until he's stopped you.

 

LAME!!!!!

 

So even if theres not a "no trespassing" sign, we cant go on the land?

 

No.

It's the same as saying "I didn't see a 'no tresspassing sign'". Negligence.

 

Yes, you can legally enter property (not structures) that is NOT posted. You can even open UNlocked gates to enter, as long as you close them behind you. But you can't vandalize or litter it, and if the owner or his representative tells you to leave & not come back (for ANY reason or for NO reason), you have to leave & not come back.

 

Ask for a trial by jury. If they are going to stick you with some stupid ticket, make the cop work his tail off for it... It really does sound like he may have overstepped his authority in issuing the ticket. In most states, moving violations can only happen on a public roadway. If it's off road, it's not a moving violation. Check with a lawyer...

 

this is honestly one of the stupidest things ive ever heard of. the cop that ever dared to come on my property and cite me for tearing my own property up with my own vehicle will get a call from my lawyer. there is plenty of crime happening that is of actual relevance to their job so he/she should have no reason to even consider stopping at my land. ive never heard of this before in my life and im definitely calling a friend of mine and my lawyer to see about this. im confused how they can do this since i know that in my area we have 3 different offroad "parks". but the so called parks are just large parcels of land that were purchased solely to allow people to offroad at, they are owned by private owners who actually live on site. they charge $10 per person to use the property. how can that be legal if a cop can cite you for reckless driving? If i tell a cop that i purchased my vehicle and built it for offroading, and he sees me offroading on my property in the vehicle that was bought/built for that purpose, how can he deem it reckless? to me it seems like that would be like trying to cite a racetrack full of drivers for reckless driving b/c they are all going too fast, even though thats the reason the cars were bought/built

 

What kind of options do you have in court. I went to court the other day to plead not guilty to a traffic violation, they gave us 2 options that both meant not guilty but nobody chose option #2. It was some sort of process where both you and the officer wrote out the events that took place in a statement, and I believe a jury was involved. Now the option I chose was just a trial and I believe there will be no jury, and no written statement/story. I'm hoping he doesn't show up.