Anyone would be excited to get out of a speeding ticket. But for Marek Kaplo, the dismissal of his ticket is worth so much more than the $220 fine listed on it.
Kaplo, of Clark, has been trying to prove his innocence for nine months.
The 39-year-old electrical engineer has missed work to attend at least seven court dates and spent thousands of dollars on his legal defense, his attorney said. He’s had the key piece of evidence since day one: his dashboard and rear window camera footage showing the police ticketed the wrong driver.
He maintains the footage shows he wasn’t speeding on Central Avenue in Westfield Jan. 13, and that the officer stopped him in error after the real culprit ducked down a side street.
Google Maps
Marek Kaplo’s cameras show him driving the route shown above in blue. His attorney said he does not know why Kaplo took the detoured route. The officer said Kaplo was going north on Central Avenue.
“The video clearly, unequivocally, without question demonstrates that the police vehicle was attempting to stop another vehicle,” Kaplo’s attorney, Josh McMahon of Westfield, said at an earlier court date.
Kaplo filed complaints against Westfield police, because he said they refused to watch the footage when he insisted proved his innocence.
The video has been in the possession of the Westfield Police Department and the municipal prosecutor since July, but the judge only agreed to dismiss the ticket Tuesday, after the Union County Prosecutor’s Office intervened to take over the case.
It’s been a long ordeal, so here’s a brief timeline of the events:
Jan. 13 – An officer issues Kaplo the ticket, despite him saying his own video shows he was not driving in the area of Central Avenue where the officer says he was.
Feb. 25 – Police inform Kaplo in a letter that they cannot investigate his internal affairs complaint about his ticket until the ticket itself is resolved in court.
June 20 – Municipal Prosecutor Yvette Gibbons — whom McMahon said had already been shown the video by Kaplo and his previous attorney — says in court that she needs a copy of the video.
July 1 – McMahon provides the video to authorities.
July 18 – At a court date, Gibbons says the case should be transferred to a different municipal court due to a conflict of interest, including the internal affairs complaints and McMahon’s statement that he would file ethics charges against Gibbons for prosecuting a case without probable cause.
Aug. 14 – Westfield police Chief Christopher Battiloro tells McMahon in a letter that the video “does create reasonable doubt” so the officer who wrote the ticket will, at the next court date, recommend to the prosecutor that it be dismissed. He reiterates that only the judge or prosecutor can dismiss the ticket.
Aug. 29 – At the hearing, the officer does not speak up and Judge Parag Patel decides to transfer the case.
Oct. 17 – The prosecutor’s office takes over the case, replacing the local prosecutor with Assistant Union County Prosecutor Doreen A. Yanik. Battiloro said he requested the office get involved “because of the court’s inability to adjudicate this matter in a timely manner.”
Oct. 22 – After NJ Advance Media inquired about Yanik getting involved, she sent a second letter asking Judge Patel to immediately dismiss the matter “on the papers,” without waiting until the next court hearing in November.
Oct. 29 – Judge Patel schedules the matter for Oct. 29 and dismisses the ticket in court at the prosecutor’s request.
Rebecca Everett may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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Shouldn’t have to go through all of that! Just view that video!
To some people its not all about the money
This is insane, sometimes our court systems fail us = (
The police department should be responsible for the mans fees since they were wrong in the first place
I beat a ticket a long time ago due to my social media post.
I received a ticket In the mail from another county up north saying I was parked on a snow covered street.
What???????
I was in my county, and my car was buried in snow!!!
I happened to take a picture of the back of my car stuck in snow. It had my license plate showing and the time I posted it on Facebook.
I printed out the picture/post out. I had to pay tolls, gas, drive all the way up to the court and prove myself.
I said how is my car in your town on a snow covered road when it’s here parked, covered in snow within a half hour of the ticket being written??? Tell me that!!!!????!!!!
They made me wait til I was the very last case in the court room at night. And the judge said we cant fight social media proof and laughed. He said ticket is dismissed.
Who ever was parked must have had 1 number off my plate and the person writing the ticket wrote it wrong! Ughhhhh!!
I wasn’t paying it! I didn’t do it!!! It still costed me for their mistake!
Idiots
He should be reimbursed for all that money he had to sink into his defense.
That is the difference between civil and criminal courts. For those that don’t know most traffic infractions are civil. You can win in a lawsuit and still lose.
First thing he did wrong was try to represent himself in Court. A fool for a client. A good lawyer would have resolved that at the first Court date.