Russ
March 12th 05, 05:02 AM
Hello,
I have a complaint and feel that I was taken advantage of by the court
system in Lakeway TX. It concerns my landing a small plane at Lakeway
Airport in July, of 2004. I knew that the Airport is closed after
sunset and before sunrise but I was issued a ticket by a police officer
that didn't even know what time sunset was. I am pursuing it via a
local television station and possibly it might keep other people from
being taken advantage of. The following excerpt is from an email that
I sent to an aviation bulletin board.
"I landed at Lakeway in the middle of July, 2004. Sunset was 8:30 pm
according to the newspaper and other official records. I touched down
at about 8:15 to 8:20 pm and had the airplane tied down, chocked,
windshield sunscreens installed in the windows, post flight completed
and walking away when a policeman came up and issued me a ticket for
landing after sunset. I told him I touched down at 8:20 pm and asked
him of the exact time of sunset. He didn't know but issued me a $1200
ticket. at 2045L. I had 3 witnesses with sworn affidavits as to the
time that I touched down but no lawyers would touch the case because of
Lakeway's reputation (much like that of Judge Roy Bean's kangaroo
court) of people loosing cases in court. It is a court of record and
they film all activity so if you loose you not only have to pay the
ticket but you have to pay court costs that are extremely high. They
even give tickets to people walking in the park after sunset when signs
are not in plain sight. It's $200 by the way for that offense. This
happen to a daughter and son-in-law of a local airport resident that
was baby sitting their grandchild while their daughter and son-in-law
went out to eat. They finished dinner early so they decided to go for
a walk in the park and was promptly issued a ticket in broad daylight
for walking in the park after sunset. The grandfather stated they
didn't see any signs. They have changed the speed limit signs
overnight and have ticketed the citizens without issuing notices. If
you land anywhere close to sunset, please have accurate touchdown times
and a camera to prove your innocence. Most GPS's records the time
below 15 kts. It takes more than witnesses to even get representation
for a court hearing. I finally found an AOPA lawyer to represent me
but after talking to his lawyer friends, he convinced me to ask for
deferred adjudication which I did. He had to threaten Lakeway judges
with a Code of Conduct case because they wouldn't answer letters sent
to the court by my lawyer. Lakeway should abide by FAA regulations of
30 minutes before and after sunset and should install an AWOS
(Automatic Weather Observation Service) to announce the sunset times in
Lakeway because they are obviously different than the real times."
I have been on probation with Lakeway sine July of 2004 and am off this
month. I didn't want to pursue any action until now for fear that
they would automatically raise my fine back to the $1200. I ended up
with 6 months probation and a 750 dollar fine. By the way, the link for
the official Lakeway sunset was taken away after I had received my
ticket. It showed sunset as being 2031L. I will do anything to help
spread the word about the way the community of Lakeway does business.
If anyone else has had a problem with Lakeway, I would appreciate a
response. Thanks.
I have a complaint and feel that I was taken advantage of by the court
system in Lakeway TX. It concerns my landing a small plane at Lakeway
Airport in July, of 2004. I knew that the Airport is closed after
sunset and before sunrise but I was issued a ticket by a police officer
that didn't even know what time sunset was. I am pursuing it via a
local television station and possibly it might keep other people from
being taken advantage of. The following excerpt is from an email that
I sent to an aviation bulletin board.
"I landed at Lakeway in the middle of July, 2004. Sunset was 8:30 pm
according to the newspaper and other official records. I touched down
at about 8:15 to 8:20 pm and had the airplane tied down, chocked,
windshield sunscreens installed in the windows, post flight completed
and walking away when a policeman came up and issued me a ticket for
landing after sunset. I told him I touched down at 8:20 pm and asked
him of the exact time of sunset. He didn't know but issued me a $1200
ticket. at 2045L. I had 3 witnesses with sworn affidavits as to the
time that I touched down but no lawyers would touch the case because of
Lakeway's reputation (much like that of Judge Roy Bean's kangaroo
court) of people loosing cases in court. It is a court of record and
they film all activity so if you loose you not only have to pay the
ticket but you have to pay court costs that are extremely high. They
even give tickets to people walking in the park after sunset when signs
are not in plain sight. It's $200 by the way for that offense. This
happen to a daughter and son-in-law of a local airport resident that
was baby sitting their grandchild while their daughter and son-in-law
went out to eat. They finished dinner early so they decided to go for
a walk in the park and was promptly issued a ticket in broad daylight
for walking in the park after sunset. The grandfather stated they
didn't see any signs. They have changed the speed limit signs
overnight and have ticketed the citizens without issuing notices. If
you land anywhere close to sunset, please have accurate touchdown times
and a camera to prove your innocence. Most GPS's records the time
below 15 kts. It takes more than witnesses to even get representation
for a court hearing. I finally found an AOPA lawyer to represent me
but after talking to his lawyer friends, he convinced me to ask for
deferred adjudication which I did. He had to threaten Lakeway judges
with a Code of Conduct case because they wouldn't answer letters sent
to the court by my lawyer. Lakeway should abide by FAA regulations of
30 minutes before and after sunset and should install an AWOS
(Automatic Weather Observation Service) to announce the sunset times in
Lakeway because they are obviously different than the real times."
I have been on probation with Lakeway sine July of 2004 and am off this
month. I didn't want to pursue any action until now for fear that
they would automatically raise my fine back to the $1200. I ended up
with 6 months probation and a 750 dollar fine. By the way, the link for
the official Lakeway sunset was taken away after I had received my
ticket. It showed sunset as being 2031L. I will do anything to help
spread the word about the way the community of Lakeway does business.
If anyone else has had a problem with Lakeway, I would appreciate a
response. Thanks.