My gardener this morning told me he will miss next week to fight a weird ticket he received back in December. Several undercover cop "J-walkers" were racing near Firmona and Artesia in Lawndale and they ticketed 5 drivers in one swoop for not stopping for the J-walkers.
My gardener Francisco says he will fight the ticket because it was a trap. What was he supposed to do as these undercover J-walkers darted across a busy street, he said, slam on his brakes? He honked and averted the J-walker, but that wasn't good enough.
A week from today he'll be in court. We'll see if he wins his case or not.
Wow, I know they must be hard up for revenue, but this sounds crazy. I could almost buy into the entrapment if it was done at crosswalks---but jaywalkers???? I wonder if a driver's insurance also goes up since it's a moving violation? What garbage.
Posted by: Angelo | February 22, 2012 at 11:06 AM
I don't think saving my Manhood in an "Era of Shriveling Masculinity" would include a gardener? Please! Other wise... great blog!
Posted by: Felix Chapel | February 22, 2012 at 01:50 PM
Sorry, Felix, but I've got twin toddlers, no nanny, no sitter. My wife and I both work. There's got to be some Man Points in there for me somewhere.
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | February 22, 2012 at 02:10 PM
Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, even when they are technically wrong. A further argument to be brought against Francisco is that he was driving too fast for the neighborhood/conditions. The entrapment argument has already been tried in this kind of case and will not fly. Francisco, slow down and be ready to protect all pedestrians all the time.
Posted by: Keith | February 22, 2012 at 03:11 PM
Mastered for iTunes: how audio engineers tweak music for the iPod age
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/02/mastered-for-itunes-how-audio-engineers-tweak-tunes-for-the-ipod-age.ars
Posted by: Paul | February 22, 2012 at 08:22 PM
Keith: When law enforcement has the following under control, we'll talk about putting resources into harassing motorists: Burgluries, rapes, murders, armed robberies, assaults, schoolyard bullying, dogs pooping in strangers' yards, stray shopping carts chipping paint on my car, someone "stealing" my parking space at the mall, squirrels taking bird seed out of my feeder (I hate that), new "reality show" ideas----wow, there's more, but I'll stop there. When all of that is covered, maybe they can ticket someone for ALMOST doing something wrong, which they instigated.
Posted by: Angelo | February 23, 2012 at 05:10 AM
Police posting as pedestrian, drug buyers, or prostitutes should be illegal in any part of the world, because it requires 2 parties to commit the crime and they are one of them. Having badges it´s not a licence to commit crimes or make others to do it.
Posted by: Huesby | February 24, 2012 at 03:53 PM