Lake Forest Park judge reduces dozens of photo-enforcement and school-zone fines, offers deferred findings

Judge Jennifer Grant handled a string of photo-enforcement and school-zone cases during the Lake Forest Park Municipal Court's Jan. 30 afternoon infraction calendar, reducing penalties in many instances and offering deferred findings for eligible moving violations.

The reductions and options mattered because the citations involved active school zones and photo-enforcement cameras used to cite speeds and red-light violations, areas the judge said the court treats with public-safety concern.

In several mitigation hearings the judge reduced penalties rather than imposing the full amounts listed on the citations. For example, the judge reduced a red-light photo enforcement fine for Dr. Bruce Olsen to $90 after he acknowledged the violation and described a brief pause before proceeding. Harold Brandt's school-zone speed violation was reduced to $75 after he acknowledged speeding in a 25-mph school zone. Christine Marshall's school-zone photo enforcement citation was reduced to $80; David Hopper's photo ticket was reduced to $85. Companies and commercial drivers received mixed outcomes: Willard's Pest Control had one school-zone case dismissed and a second reduced to $90.

The judge explained procedural context for photo-enforcement evidence and calibration records, saying the speed-measuring device and maintenance records are posted as public records on the court's or police department's website and include credentials of personnel who calibrate the devices. "Those records are posted as public records on the court's website," Judge Grant said when a defendant asked how often the machines are calibrated.

Where appropriate, Grant offered deferred findings: a six-month continuance, a $175 fee and a requirement to avoid new moving violations during the period, after which the charge may be dismissed. She warned that violations during the deferred period would lead to imposition of the underlying penalty.

The court also dismissed at least one photo-enforcement case after a defendant (Alimu Mika) swore the defendant was not the driver at the time the photo was taken; the judge dismissed that citation after the sworn statement.

The judge instructed defendants that reduced amounts and payment instructions would be mailed, and that some defendants could set up time-payment plans where available.

Several people who mitigated were informed the reductions would not be recorded on their state driving records for certain nonmoving infractions; for moving violations the deferred finding was the primary method the court offered to avoid a record entry.

Ending: The Jan. 30 calendar continued with other civil infractions and administrative matters after the court completed the bulk of photo-enforcement and school-zone cases. Follow-up mailings and invoices were to be sent to addresses on file for each defendant.