my defence was more about asking them what was the estabised norm for my car so that they could prove on what they judged my exhaust to be illegal.
i dont think i would of gotten away with by telling them its a stock pipbomb... it was more about not being able to apply 258 as a defence that theyre proof had no comparable value.
anyway in this situation its more of a ' the judge will decide what the f'ck he wants anyway situation'
Yes the judge will decide what the fuck he wants anyway. Thats how ALL civil courts are technically. It fuckin sucks but it is what is.....
Once again the way you were going about it was wrong, only because your car is the pinnacle of street racing - the civic.
the cops/prosecutors/experts interpretation don't need to prove beyond ALL doubt that they are right, they've done it so many times that they're almost always considered right to the judges eyes. They've proven themselves time after time.
And again, your car was sold here as the regular civics under several models for yearssss. The cops/prosecutors/experts have PROOF that MOST PROBABLY AND ALMOST CERTAINLY that the civic comes with a normal muffler. They don't need anything further than that.
Like my quotes state it
La prépondérance signifie que l'existence d'un fait est plus probable que son inexistence, que le fait litigieux est non seulement possible, mais probable plutôt qu'improbable.
Once the judge has that, and that 100% of the civic sold in North American since 1972 have "classic" mufflers..... your cause is almost lost from the beginning.
If your car was something else, rarer to find here or not even sold here under another model, it would have been easier. But the civic is a lost cause.
I went to court twice for an exhaust and i won both times. It was maybe because my judge was nice/reasonable and not asshole like some others. But up until now I'm 4/5. Gone to court 5 times, won 4. Even the one I lost, if I appealed I could've won. I had a lot of stuff going with srt_mod for that one but I just let it go. I should have another court date coming up soon.
My car was a 1992 Honda Prelude. It's a lot easier to take the credibility away from the cop down to 0 with it since it's a rare car to find in decent condition and not destroyed with rust, mods and aftermarket exhausts/parts. Plus my car was a MIIIIINT condition example with not even surface rust on a single bolt. Which also gave me a plus. All I had we're wheels, suspension mods, 2-3 aesthetics changes and an exhaust.
All I had to do was ask him:
You found my car loud in comparison to what prelude?
To one I heard at a car meet.
What model was it?
I don't know.
When did you hear this prelude?
2-3 years ago.
So you're comparing the noise from my car to
ONE single car you heard 2 to 3 years ago amongsts the hundreds of thousand you've heard since then?
Yes....
You must have a really good memory.
How many people were around since it was a car meet?
A lot.
Was it busy? We're there a lot of car? A lot of noise?
Yes.
Was the sound of the car probably being overwhelmed with the noise of the surrounding and activity around you?
I don't know...
How much mileage did it have?
I don't know...
Did you see the motor?
No...
So you don't know what motor it had?
No...
I'm sure you are aware Honda motors are almost interchangeable between all cars. Therefore you know the owner of that prelude can replace his motor with a much lower end and basic motor from a Honda Accord if the person is short on money or doesn't want to invest in a performance motor of a prelude and needs the car running and thus making less noise?
Maybe...
How many trims does the prelude have?
2
How many different motors do these trims have?
2
What motor did I have?
The high end
How many different exhausts models were there for the different motors?
There were different trims, but all of them had the same exhausts.
This is the part I loved the most. The judge asked him, so all of them had the same exhaust? He said yes. If you look at the serial number with Honda for the parts, they are the same along the entire Prelude models and interchangeable.
It was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard not to put the biggest "MOTHER FUCKER, IM GONNA RIDICULE YOU" smile on my face.
And then I said, I have no further questions your honor.
Went up to the stand.
Gave the judge, the cop, and the prosecutor a stack of papers all from Honda's part system with diagrams and serial numbers: 3 different header designs, 2 different exhaust designs, and 50 or so different part numbers, different for each exhaust system. Not a single exhaust was shared completely between trims/motors and parts were vastly different from the head of the motor to the tip of the exhaust.
I explained all of it.
I also explained there are 3 trims and 3 motors. Mine isn't the highest end like the cop stated but developed the most torque.
Everything the cop had said was wrong. Credibility went from low to zero.
I just had to say: "this cop clearly has no idea what hes talking about and I have no idea what I'm doing here. All the other stuff he has me in for is wrong as well. Here's my judgement from last time."
Passed him and the prosecutor my last judgment.
Judge: "Well I think I don't have any other choice but to acquit you."
PEACE OUT MOTHAFUCKAAAAS! Walked out like a boss.
Man I miss my car.....