Tickets for talking on your cellphone

While it may not be the biggest ticket around, nor is it a point on your license, talking on your cellphone tickets sure are pesky!  Since the enactment of California Vehicle Code §23123, officers have been very free with these $175 tickets, issuing them for any use of a cell phone while driving, and generally escalating the gotcha game.  But wait, there is relief!  In People v. Spriggs (2014 DJ DAR 2426), the California Appellate Court holds that the law means exactly what it says: you cannot use your phone to talk on or listen to a call without a hands-free devise. You can, as in this case, use map features.  I would also assume, though not discussed in the opinion, this includes music features.  This seems right.  Can you imagine if it was legal to cover your whole windshield with a paper map, but couldn’t use your tiny phone to the same end? 

Who says judges aren’t funny? In People v. Smit (2014 DJ DAR 3309), the defendant was charged with various drug possession crimes which could have sent him to prison for 11 years.  Smit didn’t really want to go to prison, so he did the only thing he could think of: try to kill the detective who was going to testify against him.  To in an attempt accomplish this plan, Smit used a bizarre series of traps, including three panji boards, three zip guns, and a M29 practice anti-tank round.  In finding that the booby traps qualified as personal use of a firearm under Penal Code §12022.53, the Court opined “none of the usual suspects such as Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam, not even Boris or Natasha, ever eclipsed what the defendant did here.”  In true roadrunner fashion, the traps either failed or were discovered.  The Court concluded: “in a way, the defendant’s attempts to kill the detective were successful.  He no longer faced 11 years.  Instead, the court sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences plus an additional term of 40 years.”  A droll opinion in a cartoony case.