People v. Sterritt

65 Cal.App.3d 1 (1976) 135 Cal. Rptr. 522 THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

DORREESE VERA STERRITT, Defendant and Appellant.

Docket No. 14381. Court of Appeals of California, Appellate Department, Superior Court, Los Angeles.

November 22, 1976. [3] COUNSEL

Morris L. Davidson for Defendant and Appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, District Attorney, Donald J. Kaplan and George M. Palmer, Deputy District Attorneys, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

COLE, Acting P.J.

(1a) We decided in People v. Halopoff (1976) 60 Cal. App.3d Supp. 1 [131 Cal. Rptr. 531], that in the trial of speeding cases where radar is involved "it is incumbent upon the People, without request from the defendant, to disclose to the court and to the defendant that radar is involved and further, where such is the case, to demonstrate the existence of the engineering and traffic survey required by section 40802, subdivision (b) [of the Vehicle Code]." (60 Cal. App.3d Supp. at p. 5.) In the present matter we hold that Halopoff is to be applied retroactively to cases whose judgments had not yet become final on appeal on the date Halopoff was decided, June 15, 1976.

Appellant here was convicted of driving at a speed of 45 miles per hour in a section of roadway posted for 25 miles-per-hour speed. The arresting officer made his observations by looking at a handheld radar unit.

We have related in some detail in Halopoff, and need not repeat here, the clear and unmistakable legislative policy against the use of "speed-trap" evidence in cases involving the speed of a vehicle (Veh. Code, §§ 40801-40805). Suffice it to state here, that a speed trap is defined, inter alia, as "a particular section of highway with a prima facie speed limit [established under described provisions of law] which speed limit is not justified by an engineering and traffic survey conducted within five years prior to the date of the alleged violation, and where enforcement involves the use of radar or other electronic devices which measure speed of moving objects." (Veh. Code, 40802, subd. (b).)