[giantg2]

Not necessarily.

For one, it probably doesn't take much smarts to fill out the paperwork or trick the system. The system is full of people who don't know their job and have no real incentive to (can be difficult to fire government employees).

For example, I am involved with a case in which a state trooper made 4 or 5 mistakes, including mis-citing a statute so badly that the court system shows it as invalid and he lacked probable cause to write the citation under the statute that he tried to cite, and thus we were subjected to unjust restrictions for weeks. The trooper even lied to the judge. I filed a complaint and the subsequent investigation confirmed his mistakes, yet he still has a job... after lying to a judge in court to cover up his mistakes... Did I mention that the judge in the case was replaced because he was arrested on multiple charges (gambling with campaign funds, perjury, etc). The courthouse will not give us replies to many of our requests, such as our petition under the pertainate judicial rule to dismiss the case. They can't even issue a correctly formed subpoena duces tecum.

So yeah, I feel disillusioned with the effectiveness and legitimacy of the system. Our lives are ruled by morons. I'm considering contacting a civil rights lawyer so this stuff doesn't happen to others in the future.

Second, intelligence is often the most overstated component to success according to many studies on the topic.

[pseingatl]

A traffic case? De minimus non curat lex. If it was a murder case, they would correct the trooper's errors. It's easy to fix typographic errors in indictments.

[giantg2]

It's a non-traffic summary offense. These are more than typographical errors (did you read the above?). Willful concealment of exculpatory evidence (his lie to cover his mistakes) is a civil rights violation, depriving the accused of a fair trial as prescribed under Brady vs Maryland. This is not de minimus as it should fit the definition of official oppression or malicious prosecution, much greater issues than the summary offense citation. So if you give a free pass on misdemeanor offenses of the trooper as de minimus, then surely the summary offense should be dismissed?

Not to mention that it does not matter what the severity of the offense is. The same protections of the law and adherence to rule of law is necessary at all levels to ensure the integrity of the system and the protection of the people's rights. If you contend that a traffic violation doesn't merit the same attention and protections by the system, then I would contend that the traffic violation would be a de minimus infraction and doesn't merit any attention at all - better a legitimate outcome that some half-ass fuckery that violates the rights of the citizenry.