Last Updated on March 28, 2022 by Lawrence Berezin
How to prepare a parking ticket appeal
It is agonizing to fight the good fight and lose. However, your only recourse is to file a parking ticket appeal with significantly fewer odds of winning. Above all, I urge you to learn how to prepare an appeal. The process is different than fighting the original fight.
I just submitted this appeal and hope it will give you a blueprint to follow in search of a just decision.
Here we go.
Parking ticket appeal burden of proof
Your burden of proof on appeal is to persuade an appeals panel that the original judge made a mistake of law or fact based on the evidence you submit. In addition, you:
- Cannot offer new evidence on appeal
- Must complete an application to appeal
- Have to submit your original defense certification
- Are you required to include your original exhibits
- Must attach a copy of the original judge’s decision
Addendum to Section C
Check out the application to appeal below. You’ll see that there is only a small space to set forth your winning argument. Ergo, I recommend attaching an addendum to section c, including:
- Your original defense certification
- Judge’s decision
- Exhibits
- Argument
Click the pretty button to download a copy of the appeal I prepared today.
Jane’s case
Jane parked her car on 2nd Avenue near E75th Street in NYC. Meanwhile, she tried to pay the parking meter, but her NYC parking app did not work correctly. Consequently, Jane was unable to pay the total amount of the parking fee.
When Jane returned to her car, she found a failure to display ticket on the windshield. However, the warrior misdescribed the meter zone number. Jane raised the misdescribed zone number as her defense. Along with the fact that the payment app didn’t work.
Larry’s comment
Jane missed a winning defense because the warrior did not enter the registration expiration month and year displayed on her Florida plate. I urge you to review the parking ticket carefully when you prepare your defense. The more winning defenses you can offer, the better your chance of winning.
Jane prepared her original defense
Jane did an excellent job preparing her defense. Likewise, the judge should have decided the case in her favor.
Larry’s Comment
I no longer prepared appeals but made an exception for Jane. She’s been a fantastic client of mine for years.
- I parked at zone 112533
- I used the park app meter.
- I paid, and it only gave me 5 minutes.
- I read the sign; I had 50 minutes left until it went to a commercial zone.
- So, I tried two more times to add more money to extend parking on the app. it would not work.
- I tried to pay again and could not pay
- I only had the 5 minutes paid and ran in to meet a friend for a half-hour coffee.
- I ran back and saw the ticket. I was not surprised as I only paid for 5 minutes, but my defense was that the park app would not work.
- But also, I noticed on the ticket. The ticket was for the wrong parking zone.
- I parked at 75th on 2nd, I looked up the meter map again today, and I had the correct zone.
- The zone noted on the parking ticket was for 76th and 2nd, so the ticket giver noted the wrong zone number.
Argument on appeal
The original judge exhibited a bias in favor of the respondent by failing to engage in a thoughtful, fair-minded weighing of all the credible evidence.
The original judge accepted the truth of the TEA’s testimony that the parking ticket was issued in zone #109848, despite my testimony and exhibits to the contrary. Above all, the judge did not review the records available to the agency or check whether the place of occurrence was located in meter zone #109849.
That is to say, the TEA entered the place of occurrence as the West Side of 2nd Avenue_14 feet North of 75th Street. But, that location is in meter zone #112533 and not the misdescribed meter zone mistakingly entered on the parking ticket (#109848). The TEA made a mistake. And so did the judge by blindly accepting the testimony of the TEA without more.
Had the judge examined the records, he would have discovered that the place of occurrence was in meter zone #112533, as shown in Exhibit 4 and Exhibit 5.
Commentary
Please don’t give up because you lost your original fight. Above all, do not assume the original judge applied the facts to the law correctly. Search for a mistake, just like Jane did. And, don’t settle. When you’re right_appeal.
Be safe.
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