As the scandal of bogus tickets issued by Baltimore City parking agents grows, frustrated motorists say the courts present another obstacle to ridding themselves of fake citations.
Pleading their cases takes time, and hostile judges seem to have little patience for citizens claiming they?ve been wronged.
Now questions are being raised if the city Department of Transportation has done all it can to inform other agencies about tickets they?ve identified as bogus ? a move that frustrated divers said could have saved court time, fees and frustration.
“We haven?t received anything about this,” said spokesman Darrell Pressley of the district court headquarters, which is responsible for coordinating traffic courts statewide.
“There has been nothing sent to us,” he said.
Pressley said any leniency granted drivers based on reports of fake tickets would be decided on a case-by-case basis.
“It would be up to the judge to determine the outcome,” he said.
And while DOT officials have declined to comment further on their internal investigation, the prospect of bogus parking citations flooding the legal system could have broad implications and result in stiff penalties for the agent, said University of Baltimore professor Byron Warnken.
“In order for it to be perjury, ithas to be an under-oath document,” he said. “I think that [a fake citation] would be perjury by affidavit, which is a 10-year felony in Maryland.”
Warnken said each ticket would be a separate “unit.”
“The number of charges would be the actual number of documents created under oath. Therefore I think each ticket would be a separate unit for prosecution,” he said.
And as more drivers come forward to claim they too have been victimized by city parking agents, many are discovering the battle to rid themselves of fines, fees and penalties is not easy even if they win in court.
Frederick Grant, a lawyer for the Maryland State Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, discovered winning in traffic court is only the beginning.
“I was parked on Lexington Street when I got the ticket; it was for another address. Why would they give me a ticket for 500 North Charles? I was never there.”
“So I said, ?Fine, I want a trial.? ”
Grant said the judge dismissed the case ? along with 30 other cases ? when the ticket agent, D. Jacobs, didn?t show for trial. But Grant soon discovered his fight was not over.
“They?re still sending me a collection letter, even though my case was dismissed,” he said.
“I wrote the parking people a nasty letter.”
