Financial Responsibility

I’ve expressed my thoughts on this video before, as it keeps being passed around and commented on by literally thousands of people who almost always side with the cop and actually cheer about law enforcement’s constant abuses of every man’s rights and liberty, all while completely ignoring the actual felony and misdemeanor crimes that the COP is actually guilty of committing in this video. It would seem that America is now the largest known population currently suffering from mass “Stockholm Syndrome.”

If you haven’t seen it, then please watch the video and then continue reading this article, as the video contains the necessary context to understand what I am about to say.

The man in the car, Scott Richardson, is NOT asking the correct questions or following the correct process. The cops, as a whole, including this one, are totally ignorant of the Texas Transportation Code laws, absolutely unequivocally, 100%. This is why I try to teach people that the side of the road is NOT the place to argue and hold court. It is the time and place to reserve YOUR fundamentally protected rights without waiving any and to make sure the record shows that is ALL that you did via the officers own cameras and audio as well as your own. So, AGAIN, this is NOT the proper way to do ANY of that.

As an ex-deputy sheriff I can say with absolute certainty that this officer is totally clueless about the limits of his enforcement authority under the Texas Transportation Code, which is NONE, because I know the officers are NOT trained on those actual laws EVER and are simply told by word of mouth from their superiors and their own personal beliefs/ opinions/ conclusions as to what they can and cannot do under the law. Meanwhile, those ‘superiors’ are equally ignorant and clueless about what the law ACTUALLY says and to whom it ACTUALLY applies, much less who is ACTUALLY authorized to enforce it and HOW they are required by law to even get authorized IF they and their city actually qualify according to law.

Addison, Texas does NOT meet any of the requirements, designated by Texas law as a city that is authorized to maintain local “traffic” enforcement officers. Requirements such as being located in a specific geographical location within Texas or having a specific minimal population limit/range, among several other requirements, as set forth in Title 37 of the Texas Administrative Code, which governs the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

For the general edification of the public who like to think that ALL law enforcement officers can enforce EVERY law in EVERY code, it should interest you to know that the Texas DPS is the ONLY agency given direct enforcement authority over the laws being used by the MUNICIPAL officer in this video. Nor does the city of Addison have the mandatory reciprocity agreement with the Texas Department of Public Safety in the form of a “Memorandum of Understanding” that is actually required by the Texas Administrative Code in order to authorize local municipalities to certify and maintain such enforcement officers in compliance with law.

Hence, the officer in the video is NOT legally authorized to enforce the Texas Transportation Code AT ALL, and is actually committing SEVERAL crimes by doing so, not the least of which is IMPERSONATING an officer. You see, when ANY person, even a police officer or sheriff’s deputy, who is NOT legally authorized to enforce a specific regulatory law, uses the mere appearance of authority by means of a uniform or some articulated authority under the police powers, then they ARE impersonating an officer of the agency that actually IS legally authorized, and THAT my friends is a CRIME!

Think about it; as a civilian, you can’t yell at someone to stop and obey you because you claim to be a duly authorized police officer having that authority when you actually are not and don’t. Nor can you actively enforce via citizen’s detainment/seizure or arrest for certain kinds of REGULATORY laws BECAUSE a valid citizen’s detention/arrest can occur ONLY when the arrest is for the commission of a felony or a breach of the peace that threatens physical harm to another or property that is BEING committed in the arresting person’s presence or view. A set of facts that ALSO happens to apply to the arrest powers of public law enforcement OFFICERS as well UNLESS there is a specific authorization in the actual law providing otherwise (this has very specific limits too, but they are irrelevant for our purposes here). Unless specifically authorized, certain categories of laws are as equally beyond the power and authority of law enforcement (“peace”) officers to enforce as they are for members of the general public without specific authorization in the law itself.

Check out EVERY enforcement chapter in the Texas Transportation Code that deals with licenses, insurance, and movement of “vehicles” (Chapters 521-600, 601, and 701-720), and you will see that the ONLY governmental entity that is given DIRECT enforcement authority over those chapters and the statutes therein is designated as “the department” and “officers of the department,” with “department” being specifically defined in each of those chapters as “The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas.” It is NOT simply ANY cop or deputy in ANY city or county located in Texas, and it NEVER has been.

So, despite Scott’s ineptitude at handling the situation at hand with the cop, he actually DOES know all of this, because I taught it to him in my classes here in Austin, or, at least, I tried to. He just isn’t doing what he should be doing with the opportunity to preserve his rights in the record being made of the illegal stop.

As you can tell by all the comments on Facebook posts of this video that are almost universally being made IN FAVOR of the cop and citing his ‘patience’ and ‘professionalism,’ none of those people know or understand anything at all about the actual law any better than the cop does. They are only speaking of what they have been [mis]led into believing and feeling from being [mis]guided around by the nose and spoon fed lies and disinformation their entire lives. Thus, proving undoubtedly that ignorance truly is bliss, and is precisely what the system counts on from the people to get away with its crimes against the general public, not the least of which is this form of extortion and fraud laughably disguised as furthering “public safety,” all while potentially being murdered for standing up for yourself and your rights by an illegal standing army comprised of armed corporate mercenary goons with no brain and mind of their own.

I’ve yet to see anyone commenting on this video in favor of the cop who is truly INFORMED and knowledgeable of the actual law itself. They all seem to only think and want to believe they are supporting the correct side because of what they’ve been indoctrinated and taught to think and believe, which, for the most part, is summed up with “it’s always been that way, like, forever!” They are simply speaking from their emotions and indoctrination, not from actual knowledge and intelligent consideration of the actual relevant facts and law.

That said, I am sure I will be “attacked” by the rabid supporters of the state as not knowing what the hell I’m talking about, but, not one of my detractors will be able to point to any specific law that actually shows I’m wrong or that proves them right. They might try, but their efforts, unlike mine, will be superficial at best, and based upon something they THINK they found in only fifteen minutes of research, if that. But, they will be wrong, because being superficial with these laws simply won’t get the job done. I have spent literally a couple of decades+ tearing apart and cross-linking and referencing these statutes and codes to see how they truly fit together so as to form the overall “bigger picture” I have and use with regularity to help people fight back against these fraudulent traffic tickets and the cities and agencies who use them to extort and defraud the public.

However, should any of my detractors actually care to realize and learn that to be the actual case, they can come here to my legal blog and start reading more, as the information contained here is all based upon the ACTUAL or preexisting law and not just a bunch of hair-brained unverifiable conspiracy theories and arguments backed by nothing more than a personal wish-list built up in their own minds.

Okay, the ‘hyper down-and-dirty’ version of this issue is this. State law does NOT authorize the stopping, detaining, arresting or impounding of persons or cars for lack of registration, a driver’s license, or for lack of proof of/actual financial responsibility. The “Registration” chapter is Chapter 502, the “Driver’s License” chapter is Chapter 521, and the “Financial Responsibility Act” is codified in Texas “Transportation” Code Chapter 601.

The statutory authority for ANY “authorized” officer to make a WARRANTLESS arrest relating to a “transportation” ‘offense’ is found in Sec. 543.001, “Transportation” Code. The warrantless arrest power given is specially and specifically limited by Sec. 543.001 to ONLY those offenses specifically codified “in this subtitle,” meaning Subtitle C of the “Transportation” Code. When you look, you can easily see that Subtitle C encompasses “Transportation” Code Chapters 541 – 600 inclusive. Everything in Subtitle C, other than Chapter 548 Compulsory Inspections, are either moving or mechanical ‘offenses.’

Notice that the “Registration,” “Driver’s License,” AND “Financial Responsibility Act” chapters ALL fall OUTSIDE of the aforementioned chapters legislatively authorizing warrantless arrest.

The prosecutor and/or the judge WILL try to argue that the officer IS authorized to perform a warrantless arrest for such ‘offenses’ under the provisions of Art. 14.01(b), Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The problem with that assertion and foundational argument is that it runs head-first into the judicial rules of statutory construction that the courts themselves have developed.

One of the primary points of these rules is this, where a statute within a particular code creates a local and specific element or condition to some subject matter controlled by that code, that code’s local provision supersedes and controls over ANY general statute dealing with the same subject matter, unless the local provision specifically states that the general provision will control.

Well, Art. 14.01(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure IS a general statute, while the provisions of Sec. 543.001 are local and specific to the “Transportation” Code and makes no mention of Art. 14.01 as being controlling in that instance. Therefore, the rules of statutory construction automatically limit the applicability of any law enforcement officer’s GENERAL authorization to make warrantless arrests under Art. 14.01(b) to those ‘offenses’ that are NOT related to the Texas “Transportation” code.

In this particular case, the “same subject matter” IS the statutory authority to perform a warrantless arrest for an ‘offense’ allegedly committed in the arresting officer’s “presence or view.” Therefore, the argument is that that “Transportation” Code’s local and specific provision controls over the Code of Criminal Procedure’s general provision in this instance, limiting the officer’s power of warrantless arrest to ONLY those ‘offenses’ found in Subtitle C of same.

This would tend to work the same way with the towing thing. No authorization exists in statute to tow the car, just as there exists no authorization to perform a “transportation” stop in relation to a license plate scan or computer retrieval that comes back saying “no insurance.” This ALSO becomes an issue because, under Texas case law, the information that comes back to the officers on their cruiser computer is HEARSAY in a court of law, and it is INADMISSIBLE if properly challenged. Therefore, the computer information alone CANNOT be the basis for a seizure any more than it can be for a warrantless arrest. The city is deemed to know and understand this fact, and is opening themselves up to a major law suit for doing it in the first place.

Finally, there is the issue of Sec. 601.053, “Transportation” Code, in relation to the ‘offense’ of “Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility,” and that is that it’s completely repugnant to the right of due process, making it UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The statute does three very unlawful things in relation to the right of due process. It unlawfully requires production of potentially incriminating information to an officer, it reverses the burden of proof, taking it from the shoulders of the State and shifting it to the back of the accused, and it makes a presumption of guilt over innocence if the accused fails to provide actual evidence that s/he is NOT guilty. Consider the language it uses by reading just the underlined parts of the statute:

Sec. 601.053. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

(a) As a condition of operating in this state a motor vehicle to which Section 601.051 applies, the operator of the vehicle on request shall provide to a peace officer, as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or a person involved in an accident with the operator evidence of financial responsibility by exhibiting:

…

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an operator who does not exhibit evidence of financial responsibility under Subsection (a) is presumed to have operated the vehicle in violation of Section 601.051.

(c) Subsection (b) does not apply if the peace officer determines through use of the verification program established under Subchapter N that financial responsibility has been established for the vehicle. If a peace officer has access to the verification program, the officer may not issue a citation for a violation of Section 601.051 unless the officer attempts to verify through the program that financial responsibility has been established for the vehicle and is unable to make that verification.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1423, Sec. 18.06, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1146 (H.B. 2730), Sec. 15A.01, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 153 (S.B. 181), Sec. 1, eff. May 24, 2013.

Subsections (a) and (b) are responsible for the primary and readily evident due process violations previously mentioned. And you can see that subsection (c) also has issues with violating due process through lack of probable cause, as it does not take into consideration the possibility of the system not having accurate and up-to-date information, even if the officer does have access and gets back bad info, which they very often do. Nor does it make any exception that denies the officer the ability to issue a citation if s/he does NOT have access to the verification system.

This act and its related statutes are just constitutionally reprehensible all the way-round in the denying and destroying of due process and probable cause, along with the rights of the accused to both, by its blatant attempt to ignore or destroy them altogether.

Texas court opinions ruling that information from computer systems is HEARSAY if the information was input by other persons and not internally formulated and produced by the computer directly.

Computer Data is Hearsay