Holy smokes wtf? This story tops even the one of people being given tickets at FG recently while simply trying to get off the river in a snow storm! I'm hoping officer a-hole was just bluffing about the ticket.....

I was ready to shrug it off as I continued reading. The officer informed you you couldn't "be a good neighbor", this human world gets more and more ridiculous by the day, but oh well, ect.

But a ticket? That's fu*ked up. Regardless of whatever info you do or don't find, definitely contest this. That's fu*ked. Obviously the local government is treating the incident (good samaritan clearing wood) as a revenue generating opportunity, instead of looking at it as a way of saving money (less calls for WSDOT to respond too, less accidents, ect.).

Maybe we need a flood so great that it can swamp Fairwood and wash the wood away that way like on the Green river wood thread-maybe wash some human debris away also. But I guess I shouldn't wish for that until you got your Squirt-Ark ready for you, your fam, dogs, and favorite neighbors.

That stuff pisses me off.

I'll contest it and again I was really just hoping that someone might know the specific legislation. There is a part time police officer that works at one of our branches that I spoke with about this and he said they have been giving alot of warnings and a few guys have written citations but he did not know what the exact legislation was. He did mention that if you actually take the wood it turns into illegal harvesting and theft too, so I guess it is good I never put any in the van!!!!

Either the economy is hosed or there is a small oasis of absolute arboriculturalbliss that has attracted folks to invest in an undervalued community because it features a stunning selection of saplings and a veritable multitude of masterly manicured maples!


Probably the economy...

I know there is a law for clearing debris from the road, but I have never bothered to look it up, and don't ever want to.

Blocking the roadway intentionally is actually Disorderly Conduct which is a misdemeanor criminal charge. If the deputy wanted to give you a civil citation instead he could have gone with Illegally Stopping/Standing on roadway. I'll have to look in my pocket RCW to see what else I can come up with, but this whole thing is pretty stupid.

The theft would have come from the fact that it was not your yard, but only if the neighbor's did not give you permission to take the wood. What Brian did was probably not a chargable violation as long as he did not block the road because technically he was collecting his property. This would be no different than someone pulling their garbage can back into their yard after it blew into the street.

The private property issue maybe a valid defense here for several reasons. Private roads are maintained by private parties, and anyone who can claim to have an interest in them can do work on them. Furthermore if the officer cited you for Illegally Stopping/Standing he had no authority to do so because most of title 46 traffic laws are not enforceable on private roads. However a lot of private communities turn their roads over to the county to get more police presence and to avoid having to maintain them. If this is the case where you live then you are hosed.

That being said I have never even given a warning for this. In fact I have used my patrol car to block traffic while I have helped people do exactly what you did.

Trees and roadkill don't last long on the side of the road up here!

Kyle

Originally posted by Wiggins

I know there is a law for clearing debris from the road, but I have never bothered to look it up, and don't ever want to.

Blocking the roadway intentionally is actually Disorderly Conduct which is a misdemeanor criminal charge. If the deputy wanted to give you a civil citation instead he could have gone with Illegally Stopping/Standing on roadway. I'll have to look in my pocket RCW to see what else I can come up with, but this whole thing is pretty stupid.

The theft would have come from the fact that it was not your yard, but only if the neighbor's did not give you permission to take the wood. What Brian did was probably not a chargable violation as long as he did not block the road because technically he was collecting his property. This would be no different than someone pulling their garbage can back into their yard after it blew into the street.

The private property issue maybe a valid defense here for several reasons. Private roads are maintained by private parties, and anyone who can claim to have an interest in them can do work on them. Furthermore if the officer cited you for Illegally Stopping/Standing he had no authority to do so because most of title 46 traffic laws are not enforceable on private roads. However a lot of private communities turn their roads over to the county to get more police presence and to avoid having to maintain them. If this is the case where you live then you are hosed.

That being said I have never even given a warning for this. In fact I have used my patrol car to block traffic while I have helped people do exactly what you did.

Trees and roadkill don't last long on the side of the road up here!

Kyle

The ending remark about roadkill struck me as funny next to your "I smell bacon" signature.

that depends on whether the roadkill is a wild boar, course, we don't live in Texas....
---------------------------------------------

in terms of needing a lawyer, i'm guessing you go to court without a lawyer and explain yourself to the judge, who won't be total a**hole like this f**cking Pig (no offense Wiggins) and will just dismiss the charge....

of course, your still out time and angst, which is still very annoying....

i'm with JP, why can't people just act straight?

C'mon Harms-
Pooh Bear don't smash sh*t or get pissed, does he? I mean, I don't remember that side of his persona.

I guess you may have some authority to speak on the subject, being a dad n all. Prolly reading some Pooh to Judah.

But then again, These characters originally created by an individual artist who had a good vision tend to get co opted and corrupted by corporations (Dysney) after the artist dies.

This is off topic, but after Harms brought Winney The Pooh into this, well you gotta check this out...

http://www.maakies.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/pooh-copy1.jpg




Edited by James - 27 Jan 2012 at 9:37am

James-

I am guessing it was the spaces that were being added to the end of the URL. JP

Darren: I might know the attorney that you are thinking of, I am going to go this one alone just like the ones in the past. I enjoy reading up on the laws, and then going to represent myself, and judges usually have the reason to understand these types of matters vs. clear infractions ie speeding, or matters of obvious infraction.

---- Massive Rant Removed ----

You should all count yourselves lucky that I had a moment of clarity, allowing me to remove a somewhat massive rant!   :)

nahh - I enjoy this type of stuff, which is what part of the rant was about that I removed. I don't go looking for police infractions or "run ins" but when Johnny harasses me, I don't have any problem making it known that I will fight the good fight!