Chicago Lawyer Kicks Rolling Meadows’ Ass!
Criminal defense attorney James Dimeas, according to the blog The Legal Defenders, was able to help a client beat a red light camera violation from Rolling Meadows.
Mr. Dimeas bitch slapped Rolling Meadows by raising an innovative defense that not only exposed a flaw in the local ordinance, but ultimately let his client beat the ticket.
Great job Mr. Dimeas! We are awarding you The Expired Meter Hero of the Month!
There’s no monetary award or prize or anything. We just wanted to give you a well deserved pat on the back. Hopefully, your good work will inspire others to fight their tickets whenever and however they can.
Here’s the story below.
Traffic Camera Citation Dismissed
Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, succeeded in having a ticket issued by the Village of Rolling Meadows for failing to stop for a traffic light at an intersection where cameras were set up to record vehicles that failed to stop for the red light.
Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, was representing an individual who received a traffic citation in the mail from the Village of Rolling Meadows containing a photograph of his client’s vehicle at the intersection of Rohlwing Road and Kirchoff Road which purported to show the vehicle failing to stop at the red light. The ticket also contained a photograph of the license plate of the client’s vehicle.
Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, obtained a copy of the Village Ordinance. Article IV, entitled “Automated Traffic Law Enforcement System” contains all the requirements for issuing tickets by camera. Section 3-70(k) of the ordinance provides that “the date, time and place of the administrative hearing at which the charge may be contested on its merits, a date that shall be no less than 15 nor more than 40 days from the mailing or other service of the notice of violation.”
The violation date on the ticket was April 4, 2008. The hearing was being held on June 19, 2008. The date between the violation date and the hearing date far exceeded the 40 day time limit spelled out in the Village Ordinance.
As a result, the Hearing Officer dismissed the citation for violating the time limits contained in the ordinance.
In doing so, Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, exposed a serious flaw in the Village of Rolling Meadows Ordinance which will probably result in the Village of Rolling Meadows having to rewrite the ordinance. Most of the people who appeared before Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas’s case was called had been issued citations around the same time as his client. However, Chicago criminal defense attorney, James G. Dimeas, was the only one to raise this defense.
For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.
I am honored by the award. Apparently, nobody had realized that the Village Ordinance had strict time limits in which a hearing had to be held. The hearing officers and the Village Attorney did not know what I was talking about when I moved to Dismiss the Ticket because they had blown the deadline for holding the hearing. I had to point out where in the ordinance this was. As I was leaving I could see and hear everyone looking for their ticket and looking for the date to see if it applied to them. You offer a great service to our citizens. Keep up the fight!
Hey Mr. Dimeas!
Thanks for the note. I seriously LOVE the story. I often feel the power of the govt., even at the local level, really makes life hard on the citizen. So when I see little guy coming on top for a change, and using the law to their advantage, I always get excited. Please keep us posted here on any similar or related cases you face during the course of your law practice.
Hi Guys,
As per Mr. Dimeas argument, I was able to beat the ticket. It was an amazing feeling!! I quoted the article and section of thier Village Ordinances and they looked at each other and then they had no choice but to dropt the ticket. Thanks to Mr. Dimeas and thanks to this webiste. You guys rock!!
No big surprise. The city is full of morons. THis was when Burns was City manager, right?
[...] months ago, we reported on how Mr. Dimeas, representing a client for a Rolling Meadows red light camera ticket, stuck it to the city, by pointing out a major flaw in their municipal code, and had the ticket [...]
After my Chicago red light camera experience, I what it feels like to have my freedom taken away. I was presumed guilty regardless of my wxcuse. I showed a video that proved that the yellow timing cycle was too short for the intersection. In fact it puts the driving public in peril. The whole issue is that the city has shortened the yellow light timing without preforming the customary engineering studies to GET THE MONEY!
Does the city of Chicago have a time limit on their red light tickets being issued?
[...] James Dimeas: Mr. Dimeas is a criminal defense attorney for the law firm The Legal Defenders. Dimeas has been fighting the [...]