City of Houston prosecutors announced that in the interest of justice, more than 6,000 speeding tickets will be dismissed. The tickets to be dismissed were issued by four officers who are allegedly involved in a ticket-rigging scheme in order to collect more overtime. Houston Police Chief, Charles McClelland, said they are dismissing the tickets because it is far better to dismiss numerous amounts of valid speeding tickets in the interest of ensuring that any victims in this scheme do not have to pay unjustly.
The officers who are allegedly involved in this speeding ticket scandal are Officers Rudolph Farias, John Garcia, Robert Manzanales, and Gregory Rosa. Tragically, officer Farias took his own life in a parking garage shortly after this scandal came to light. The three other officers are under criminal investigation. The combined total of outstanding tickets the four officers issued is around 6,150.
It is still possible that the number of tickets subject to dismissal may yet increase. Randy Zamora, the chief of the Criminal Law Division of the City Legal Department, said any citizen who settled a ticket in the past 10 days, may request a new trial. Requesting a new trial can be accomplished by filling out a “motion for new trial form” and taking it in person to Room G-48 of the Municipal Courthouse at 1400 Lubbock. It is still possible to get a pending ticket dismissed if it was written by one of the four officers involved in this scheme. You must however still appear on your regularly scheduled court date to attempt to have your ticket dismissed.
If you or someone you know has been involved in an auto accident, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.