Lake Forest Park judge reduces fines, grants deferred findings and dismisses one photo red‑light case

Judge Jennifer Grant presided over the Lake Forest Park Municipal Court infraction calendar on Jan. 26, 2026, resolving a series of traffic and photo-enforcement matters and issuing several deferred findings.

Grant reduced or mitigated penalties for multiple defendants. She cut Logan Duelling’s HOV/bus-lane fine from $350 to $200 after reviewing prior deferred findings and case history, and told Duelling the court would mail an updated notice. ‘‘I can reduce this for you to $200,’’ Grant said while reviewing the statute and penalty schedule.

For a failure-to-yield to an emergency vehicle, Nematullah Fazli was offered payment arrangements or conversion to 11 hours of community service to satisfy the $224 penalty; the judge explained proof procedures and a 90-day completion window. Shannon Glenn’s school-walk-zone photo ticket was reduced from $145 to $85 after the judge reviewed the video evidence and noted darkness and rainy conditions described by Glenn. Danielle McMahon was offered a mitigation to $100 or five hours of community service within 60 days after explaining she had been detoured while dropping a child at therapy.

William Zhang elected a deferred finding — a six-month diversion requiring no moving violations and payment of a $175 administrative fee — which the court granted and agreed to mail the deferred-finding paperwork. Sandra Scribner, who sought a contested hearing on an HOV/bus-lane ticket, described the pavement markings as confusing; after discussing the options and the statutory limit that deferred findings for moving violations are available only once every seven years, Scribner agreed to a deferred finding and the court set terms and payment arrangements.

The court also handled several defaults and evidentiary rulings in the afternoon session. Sarah Gates and Julie Stark were found in default for failing to appear and penalties were imposed. In a contested red‑light photo case, the court reviewed officer-submitted photographs and video for Michael and Shoshanna Osterfeld and dismissed the red‑light violation, saying the photographic evidence did not support a committed violation. A separate defendant who submitted proof of insurance after the citation had the insurance charge mitigated to $150; another defendant, David Osterbeck, presented insurance proof effective before the stop and his insurance violation was dismissed.

Judge Grant addressed administrative and procedural matters as well: a case was set over to the morning interpreter calendar for Feb. 18 for a Spanish‑language interpreter request; another defendant’s matter was set with notice directed to a corrected mailing address. The court adjourned after resolving the afternoon matters.

The court’s actions included a mix of penalties reduced by judicial discretion, deferred findings granted at the defendants’ request, default findings for failures to appear, and at least one dismissal following evidentiary review. Several defendants were instructed on how to document community service or to remit deferred-finding fees; the court also clarified that photo-enforced camera tickets are treated like parking tickets and generally do not violate deferred-finding terms because they are not moving violations.

The infraction calendar will continue to be handled by the municipal court according to statutory limits and local court policy; parties will receive mailed notices with payment instructions or diversion paperwork as directed.