David Estes

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Retired police officer, David Estes of Lewiston Idaho, won a traffic decision in the Idaho State Appellate Court December 1^st, 2009. Docket 35767, Opinion 75, is published as a precedent setting decision on the issue of visual estimation of speed. Estes explained that in the past, people have been convicted of speeding based only on the visual estimation of speed by the officer. This decision establishes rules under which a person can be convicted of speeding without a radar reading or other speed detection device.

David’s victory, as he sees it, is generously shared by Ethics in Idaho because it’s a correction where there was previously a deficiency. Estes helped to form Ethics in Idaho and wrote the Idaho Public Employee Accountability Act, which later became a main program for EI to one day put on the Idaho ballot. To me it’s a victory for the ordinary person,” said Estes, who filed countless public records requests and court documents as he represented himself in the appeal.

The three-judge panel decided an Idaho State Police trooper’s estimation of a car traveling down the Lewiston Hill was insufficient on its own to base a conviction. This interesting and succinct decision can be found at http://www.isc.idaho.gov/opinions/Estes,%20David.pdf.

Congratulations David!

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