Another day in the life of a Street Lawyer....

In my years on the street I have, from time to time, come in contact with a creature I call the Street Lawyer. Generally there are not attorney's by trade or training but they believe they know the law better than the police, city and district attorneys, or even defense attorneys. Here is an example of one.

To knock off the questions before they come, in Texas if a Peace Officer has reasonable suspicion to detain you for a traffic offense, you are required to present to him both your license and proof of financial responsibility. If you do not, that is a Class C Misdemeanor. And yes, the officer may use "reasonable force" to take you into custody. Seeing he spent almost four minutes asking for the license and/or name, that is reasonable in my book and I'll bet it will be reasonable in the eyes of the judge.

But one thing these Street Lawyers never seems to grasp. This is not the place for the argument. He can make his case in front of a judge or jury at a later point. The ticket is not a conviction and signing the citation is not an admission of guilt. It is simply an acknowledgement by you of receipt of the ticket and a promise to appear in court.

One of my officers watched this and he made the point is the likely a Sovereign Citizen. They believe that traffic codes only apply to commercial motor vehicles and the only legitimate law enforcement is the sheriff and his deputies (they are elected).

Haven't had to use the baton yet, but yes, that draw it from me.