Texas Man's Apparent Response to Traffic Camera Ticket Will Likely Make Constitution Fans Smirk, But...

A Texan, apparently, isn't easily accepting the ticket he got in the mail after a camera allegedly caught him in a traffic violation. He penned a cheeky letter, citing constitutional violations and even a mathematical formula to show why he thinks the case should be dropped. But an officer with the camera division says there may be a flaw in his argument.

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"As per the instructions, I'm writing to plead 'not guilty' to this charge," the alleged Plano  resident, who lives in a Dallas suburb and wrote the infraction occurred on March 20, said. "Although this option is said to result in this matter going to court; it is my suggestion that the charges simply be dropped. This suggestion comes out of respect for tax payers, and my request that their hard earned money not be wasted in such proceedings."

The letter, posted to Reddit under the title "This is how my brother tries to get out of a speeding ticket," then goes through the man's reasoning.

"There is no evidence of my involvement with this alleged 'crime,' as well as the fact that I am not granted my 6th amendment right to face my 'accuser' (a camera); I see no way the government could prove my guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," he continued. "I also see […] no legal requirement for me to implicate someone else in this process, as it is the government's responsibility to prove a person's guilt. It is also my 5th amendment right to remain silent on the matter."

Should the case proceed to court, the man requested evidence from the prosecution and all maintenance records from the camera that allegedly caught his infraction. He also wrote that he wanted records for the traffic light itself, which he wrote based on a video he watch lasted only three seconds, "50 [percent] less of what it should for a zone of 40 mph speed limit."

Citing information from transportation engineers, yellow lights should last at least 4.5 seconds in a 40 mph zone -- and he included the mathematical formula to prove it.

The signature on the letter was whited out and it is unclear if it was actually sent to court officials.

Image source: Imgur via Reddit

Officer Mike Avera with Plano's Automated Red Light Camera Enforcement Program, who didn't know anything about this specific letter, told TheBlaze that the state makes red-light camera tickets a civil penalty -- much like getting a parking ticket that doesn't go on a driving record, he explained.

He noted that the person who receives a citation also gets a 12-second video of the entire violation, two still images and a picture of the car's license plate, all of which were reviewed and signed off on by an officer before the citation was issued.

"If they request a hearing in municipal court, that officer appears and testifies to all evidence reviewed," Avera said, noting that for the man in the letter to say he can't meet his accuser -- a camera -- is false given that it's not the camera sending them the ticket but the officer that reviewed the evidence.

 He also explained that the city has addressed the issue of yellow light timing in the past.

"I know for a fact that our city uses the federal guidelines for yellow light timing," Avera said. "All traffic lights are in compliance with that.

"In past, we've had people that say they’ve clocked it by hand … but statistics show that can be as much as two seconds off depending on reflexes," he said.

If the letter trying to skirt the ticket is real, it wouldn't be the first time constitutional arguments or mathematics have been employed to get oneself out of a ticket. In 2012, a physicist posted a "proof of innocence," drawing upon various mathematical formulas to show he could not have run the red light for which he was cited.

Watch our extended discussion about this story on Friday's BlazeCast:

Featured image via Shutterstock.

(H/T: Daily Mail)