Back in mid-April, I had a battery problem with Black Betty and realized that the charger I had borrowed was malfunctioning.  So I jumped on to Ombra's Betty Davis to ride over to the Advanced Autoparts store about 5 long blocks away to buy a new one.  I paused before getting on because it was a bright day and I thought I should run upstairs to grab a pair of sunglasses, but didn't follow my intuition and headed off on my mission.  I didn't get 100 feet from my home when, as I was turning left through the intersection, I heard the siren and saw the lights from a Miami City police car right behind me.  Indeed, he was pulling me over!  I got off the bike and pulled out my newly minted (2 week old) Florida driver's license to hand to him as he approached me.  Before I could say anything, he barked at me, "Don't say a word!"  Then asked for my registration papers for Ombra's bike, which, of course, were back at home...  But 'home' was only 100 feet away!  I pointed to my house (I could have thrown a rock and hit it, it was that close) and told him I would go get them; to which he told me again to stop talking and walked back to his cruiser.

After about 20 minutes, and I mean 20 minutes, during which another patrol car pulled up and the two officers chatted for a while, he came back to me.  His first words, "I'm going to explain what I'm giving you; do not interrupt me or we will be here all day..."  I stood there and listened to Officer Sanchez tell me that the first ticket was for not wearing eye protection (those dammed sunglasses!!!); the second was for failing to yield to the right of way (effectively, not waiting for the 3-4 cars from the other side of the street to pass before making my turn!); the third was for not having Ombra's Harley Davidson registration papers with me (even though I could have had them in his hands within 120 seconds of his request); and the fourth - yes the fourth ticket - was for not wearing a helmet!  At hearing the fourth charge, I could not help but respond that Florida is a helmet optional state...  to which the good officer responded that I need to have a rider on my health insurance policy in order to not wear a helmet.  I can tell you that Ombra and I are in the 2% of riders that wear helmets here in Miami and I am sure that the other 98% do NOT have a rider on their health insurance policies...  But, there I was receiving four citations at a total cost of $520; and looking forward to $180 of court costs for each violation - potentially another $720!

Turns out, in Florida, there are all kinds of law firms that go to court and fight police citations on your behalf.  It is a game of sorts.  Irritable police officers hand out all manner of tickets daily; those that receive those tickets receive offers to represent them (info collected from the posting of the ticket(s) in the court record I suppose) from more than a dozen law firms who send you their information long before you receive your court appearance date! 

Officer Sanchez told me that he would be there in court to check if I could produce all of the things that were missing... If I could, he might lighten my 'sentence'.  At that point, he turned and walked away.  I called out after him, "Should I leave my motorcycle parked here and go get [the very things he gave me citations for]?"  He turned and waved me off, telling me to be on my way...  I thought to myself, well, what was the point of all of this?  He was giving me hundreds of dollars of fines for not having specific things in my pocket or on my head, yet, when he was finished, it didn't matter if I rode off without those things...?!  What's up with that!

Well, after having to ask the court for one postponement due to being out of town when the first date was sent to me, today I appeared at 08:00 in Courtroom 1-4 of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse.  I, and my fellow cited drivers, did not appear in front of a judge, rather in front of a hearing officer.  He would call our names (alphabetically, so I was second up) and we would go to the podium in front of the judge's bench.  The Hearing Officer read off my charges and then told me that he would make me an offer to avoid scheduling a court appearance before a judge. If I accepted the offer then that would be that, but I could not have a second shot at the offer if I chose going to court. I got a little nervous at that point, but then he went on to say that all of the citations for no eyewear, no helmet and no registration papers would be dismissed if I could show the attending officer (not Sanchez, but a court officer) that I had those things with me. With regard to the charge of failing to yield, he said that because I have a perfect driving record he was dismissing that charge as well!  I was shocked!  He continued, that because all of the charges were dismissed, there would be no court costs necessary either...  When he asked me if I agreed with his decision, it took me a second or two to realize what he had just said!  I quickly gathered myself and responded that I was in full agreement; I turned to the court officer to begin to produce the various things requested and he, in turn, told me they were not necessary and that I could leave... Case dismissed! WOW! 

Having heard from so many locals and friends that I would probably not get any points, but would surely have to pay court costs, this was amazing grace.  Justice was served. 

My feeling is that if the state of Florida were to give a driving handbook to every person that turns in their out-of-state licences for Florida ones, then I would have had to agree that I was guilty on the no eyewear, no helmet charges. But the state did not inform me. Neither was I guilty of the other infractions (I could have retrieved the registration docs; and the driver of the first car across the intersection was sleeping when the light turned green and didn't move, so I safely made my turn). But what was most aggravating is that Officer Sanchez was so rude, so self-important, and so deceitful when he told me to go on about my business - after throwing the book at me, as they say. 

All of that said, after my day in court, my driving record remains in tact and unblemished. Justice has truly been served.  And I am most grateful that I am not some $1200 lighter, a burden that I have been carrying ever since that fateful day of April 12th.