CONTRA COSTA COUNTY TRAFFIC TICKET ADVICE
[Updated 6/8/14, revision 6]
I have some quick advice for you. If you get a traffic ticket, don't go to traffic court if Lowell E. Richards is the commissioner in charge. He is completely biased towards the prosecution, he almost always finds the defendant guilty if the police officer shows up. As of June 2014, he handles all traffic cases in Richmond in the afternoons, and mornings he works somewhere else. He does not tell anyone he is a commissioner but not a judge.
He almost never lowers the fine (I never saw him lower a single fine). If you are there on a speeding ticket, you probably will get your license suspended for seven days. That happened to me and several other people I saw. You are much better off just paying the ticket than going to his traffic court. If you want to fight your ticket, do not, under any circumstances agree to have him judge your case -- see below for more on this.
He does not invite anyone to ask the officers questions, but rather sets up a very intimidating situation where it is made intuitively clear that questioning the officer is not appreciated. I am not an attorney, but I have read that it is your right to question the officer if you have any questions of him. By the way, almost all the officers did show up the day I went to court. The idea that a lot of officers don't show up seems to be false. If you fight the ticket, expect the officer to show up. If you have any questions to ask the officer, Commissioner Richards will not tell you that you have the right to ask them questions. Again, I'm not an attorney, but you could try saying, "Your honor, I'd like to ask the officer a few questions." I believe he legally must allow that. However, he is so biased that I don't think it would help. Unless you have the most open and shut case in the world, if you are a traffic court defendant, and the police officer shows up, you are pretty much screwed.
Commissioner Richards doesn't appear to truly listen to defendants. It very much appears like he is just waiting for people to finish talking so he can declare them guilty. One case I saw was open and shut for the defense, but she had to repeat herself three times before he seemed to actually hear her. Even then, he didn't rule from the bench, but rather said he'd decide on the case later.
An attorney told me that for infractions (like moving violations), in California, you do not have a right to a trial with a judge, the trial will be by a commissioner. So you can't "refuse to stipulate to the commissioner" as many websites say. What you can do is see a clerk at the courthouse a week or two before the trial to file a 170.6 motion to avoid a judge or commissioner that you feel is biased. One attorney told me via email, "I have associates in Contra Costa County. We never stipulate to this commissioner [Lowell Richards] for anything. There are numerous others commissioners in the state who do the same [assume the defendants are guilty and treat them badly]."
PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR STORY
If you go to traffic court, please email me with your story, at jim@jerel.com. Over time, putting our heads together, perhaps we can figure out the best way to proceed if you want to fight a moving violation in traffic court when the commissioner is known to be biased.
To file a complaint, send a letter (ideally by Registered mail) to:
Honorable Barry P. Goode
Contra Costa County Superior Court
100 37th Street
Richmond, CA 94805
RECOMMENDED ATTORNEYS AND FIRMS
You can contact the following attorneys and talk with them frankly about your situation. They will quote you a flat fee. For most cases I suspect it won't work financially, but no harm in asking:
Patrick Coughlin -- pm.coughlin@gmail.com
Roberts Law Group -- asrlaw@gmail.com
AVVO (Get legal questions answered for free, and find a lawyer)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A PDF of the complaint I filed.
Someone else who had a problem with him asks for assistance.
|