People v. Studley

Opinion

BRICKNER, J.

This case presents the following question: where a motorist is cited, by the use of radar, for speed in excess of the state maximum speed limit on a nonlocal road with a prima facie speed limit of 50 miles per hour, and where a traffic and engineering survey is not proved at trial, do California’s speed trap laws apply to compel exclusion of all evidence of speed? We hold the answer is “yes.”

Facts

At appellant’s trial, Tustin Police Officer Cartwright testified he visually estimated appellant’s speed at 65 miles per hour on a nonlocal road posted at 50 miles per hour, using…