Interested in working with us? Call us on (800) 800-5678 or fill out this quick form and we will contact you within 24 hours!
Latest News from Wisconsin & Illinois
California Helmet Case Update
Posted on Aug 27, 2009
Richard Quigley, Freedom Fighter
Richard Quigley had nine helmet tickets dismissed when the Superior Court of Santa Cruz County, California, ruled that they were “correctable” tickets and the California Highway Patrol needed to sign off on them. On July 14, 2006, Judge Barton ruled that the helmet law in California was unconstitutional, as applied and enforced by the California Highway Patrol. The CHP refused to obey Judge Barton’s ruling to sign the tickets as correctable, prompting Quigley and his attorney to ask the court to find the CHP in contempt.
The Attorney General’s Office filed an action in the 6th Appellate court seeking a stay on the contempt charge against the CHP and asking for a ruling that the helmet tickets were not correctable equipment violations. After 15 months of relative quiet, on January 11, 2007, the 6th Appellate court issued an Order to Show Cause why they should not issue a Writ permanently stopping Judge Barton from holding the CHP in contempt. That request was denied on February 20, 2007.
The Attorney General’s office then engaged in a campaign to discredit defendant Quigley, by bringing up past helmet tickets and court appearances. Although irrelevant, on June 17, 2007, the 6th Appellate court made its decision. Helmet tickets are in fact correctable violations and Judge Barton was correct in so finding. But, in a strange twist, the court wrote 10 pages on why Quigley’s helmet citations were not correctable. Confusing? You bet, but so is the application of the helmet law in California, the crux of this whole issue.
The Attorney General’s office continually refuses to have the true issue heard in court and instead petitions with Writs of Mandate and other stalling tactics, which one by one are dismissed or denied by the court. With Quigley’s health failing, it is a question of time if he will get another day in court, hopefully resolving this issue.
