Rogue Parking Ticket Judges are Unjustly Rejecting Body Type Defenses

Dear Honorable Judge,

I hereby certify as follows:

I plead not guilty to this parking violation because:

-The Body Type was misdescribed.
My car was a Station Wagon and not a 4DSD

According to the court in Crichlow v NYC Dept. of Fin. Adjudication Div., 2011 NY Slip Op 50765(U) Decided on April 28, 2011, Supreme Court, Queens County McDonald, J., NYC is required to dismiss a parking ticket issued to a vehicle if the warrior inserts 2DSD instead of 4DSD regardless of the state of registry (in this case, the vehicle was registered in the great state of Virginia):

“For Violation No. 7324225871, this court finds that although the description of the body of the vehicle as a sedan was correct, it is not disputed that the vehicle was a two-door sedan and not a four-door sedan. Thus, the summons which described the body type as “4DSD” contained a misdescription of the vehicle. In the respondent’s memorandum of law, they concede that the two-door vehicle was misdescribed. However, the respondent contends that “the identification of the two-door sedan as a four-door sedan on a parking ticket is not a fatal mistake, because it does not reach the level of misdescription of the body type as required by “VTL §238.”

We go on to say in our certification

“The Court of Appeals held in Matter of Wheels, Inc., v Parking Violations Bureau, 80 NY2d 1014 [1992] that a misdescription of any of the five mandatory identification elements mandates dismissal. Contrary to the respondent’s contention, the Court of Appeals ruling in Matter of Wheels, Inc, supra., does not provide for levels of misdescription, and it does not provide for an exception for small errors. Here, because the body type of the car was clearly misdescribed, the Adjudication Bureau was mandated to dismiss the summons according to VTL§ 238(2-b)(a).”

Likewise, the Court of Appeals clearly stated in Matter of Wheels, Inc., v Parking Violations Bureau, 80 NY2d 1014 [1992] that a misdescription of any of the five mandatory identification elements mandates dismissal. Contrary to the respondent’s contention, the Court of Appeals ruling in Matter of Wheels, Inc, supra., does not give for levels of misdescription, and it does not give for an exception for small errors. Here, because the body type of the car was clearly misdescribed, the Adjudication Bureau was mandated to dismiss the summons according to VTL§ 238(2-b)(a). Thus, as the determination of the Appeals Board was based upon an error of law, the determination of the Board for Violation No. 7324225871 must be annulled.

The correct standard to apply regardless of whether you registered a car in the NY State or out-of-state matches the body type listed on the vehicle’s registration with the body type entered on the parking ticket. Above all, there is no rational basis in law or fact to create a stricter standard  (“reasonably accurate”) for out-of-state vehicles. 

On the other hand, even if this court applied the reasonably accurate standard, a Station Wagon, SUV, Suburban, or Hatchback cannot be reasonably mistaken for a 4DSD, nor do the definitions of each body type match.

And finally

My car was a  Hyundai Station Wagon, not a 4DSD as misdescribed on the parking ticket.  

I have submitted a series of exhibits in support of my defense.

Due to these circumstances, please dismiss this parking ticket.

Thank you.

-I hereby certify that my testimony is the truth to the best of my knowledge. I fully understand that if my testimony is willfully false, I am subject to punishment.

-I hereby certify that the photographs and images in my exhibits are true and accurate reproductions of the originals as they existed on the date/time this parking ticket was issued.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann