http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/fines-25739-refund-action.html?cb=1296709318

Attorney eyes class-action suit to refund fines

February 02, 2011 5:38 PM

Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • Before a City Hall packed with tea partiers, Mayor Ryan McEachron called Tuesday night for the city to investigate what it will take to remove its 10 red-light cameras.

“I want it in writing that you want to spend taxpayer dollars to take out these cameras and to fight a lawsuit,” McEachron told the tea party, anticipating there will be litigation over Victorville’s contract with camera operator RedFlex.

The standing-room only crowd responded in unison “here here!” and broke out into loud applause at the announcement, which was triggered by a request from Councilwoman Angela Valles.

The former City Council approved a five-year contract with Arizona-based RedFlex in 2007, with Victorville adding cameras to monitor 16 approaches at 10 intersections by the end of the following year.

But with dwindling revenue, a public disgruntled over the $456 ticket and little evidence to show that six of those cameras had improved safety or traffic flow, Victorville negotiated a deal to remove six cameras and extend the contract on the rest until 2014.

According to the contract, Victorville can terminate its agreement with RedFlex if “any court having jurisdiction over city rules, or state or federal statute declares, that results from the RedFlex System of photo red light enforcement are inadmissible in evidence.”

Brandon Wood, a local criminal attorney, spoke on behalf of the tea party and cited two California appellate courts that have ruled RedFlex photos and videos as inadmissible.

Cliff Raynolds, captain of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Victorville station, said he spoke with the judge who hears the local red-light citation cases and asked if anything has changed in San Bernardino County as a result of those Los Angeles and Orange County cases. He was told those rulings did not impact this county.

Wood said that as soon as a local appellate court overturns one of the red-light camera tickets, he plans to file a class action suit on behalf of everyone who’s received a ticket and seek to have those fines refunded.

Along with 192 cards from residents wishing to speak against the cameras, Brad Mitzelfelt, 1st District Supervisor for San Bernardino County, had a letter read into the record calling for Victorville to remove the cameras. Mitzelfelt called the cameras “intrusive” and stated their constitutionality has been called into question.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, RTwin Peaks, also had a letter read into the record calling for cameras to come down.

The local tea party is also asking Sheriff Rod Hoops to refuse to provide personnel to prosecute the tickets, Wood said.

Raynolds presented a graph showing overall collisions have gone down since the cameras were installed. That included a drop in rear-end collisions, commonly believed to increase with red-light cameras because of drivers stopping short.

During the last six months of 2010, Raynolds showed the cameras captured 27,382 potential violations. Of those, more than 89 percent were thrown out without issuing citations. And of the 2,988 violations that stood, 255 were dismissed in court.

City Manager Jim Cox said staff will aim to bring a cost analysis on what it would take to pull out the cameras back to the City Council within 30 days.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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