Jay Mowery said the suit all began with a simple turn at the corner of Highway 96 and Royal Oaks last summer.
"I enter the intersection on a green light. I sit there and wait for the oncoming vehicles to complete their pass through, so I can turn safely left. I made the left turn and a police officer pulled me over and said ‘I had run a red light or made an illegal turn by making that left hand turn,'" said Mowery.
Mowery, a 30-year police veteran and former police chief in South Carolina, knew he did nothing wrong.
"I knew I legally had a right to make a left hand turn," said Mowery.
Mowery said as long as you enter the intersection while the light is green, you can exit it after it turns red. He fought the ticket through the courts and finally won.
"The court of appeals overturned the conviction issued by the city court and the circuit court here in Williamson County. With that, we have adjusted our procedures in that type of enforcement," said Franklin police sergeant Charlie Warner.
The city of Franklin said it does not plan to fight the court's decision.
"We're not going to be issuing tickets any longer for someone that completes that left turn after the signal has turned because they're waiting for the traffic to clear from that intersection," said Warner.
Police said their best advice is to not enter the intersection unless you feel you can safely make the turn.
Here are some comments:
About time somebody could stand up to these police departments around here. We have people breaking into homes, murdering others, deal drugs, and many other horrible things, but we only deal with people who "illegally" make a left hand turn that's really legal because that is what makes money for the cities. Cops need to have their power reduced big time, get that fat head off their shoulders.
The reason this worked. They pull over a real honest to God, officer who made them understand the law. If officers start investgating alot of things other officers do. They'll find that officers don't obey the law they trying to enforce.
I'm curious, just how many times have the idiots parading as cops in Franklin got that city sued?
Seems to be a pattern...
franklin police officers have been abusing their powers at the intersection of highway 96 and royal oaks for quite some time...poorly placed entrances and exits to mcdonalds and other businesses at that intersection cause abrupt, unexpected traffic stops to take place...several drivers often find themselves suddenly stranded completely without warning in the middle of the intersection with nowhere to go after the light turns red...cops have usually been parked somewhere close and immediately pull these poor unsuspecting drivers over...my wife was one of them...
It's about time someone challenged Franklin's traffic laws. I say this because it seems Franklin just makes their own. My wife received a ticket several years ago (before we were married) for going through an intersection when the light changed yellow.
The cop told her that yellow meant stop. Since when? As a kid, I remember playing "red light / green light". I don't remember that game being called "yellow light / green light", do you?
State law is clear on it (and it has been this way since I've had my license). If your enter the intersection BEFORE the light is red, you are to proceed through. The yellow light is to "warn" you that the light is about to change to red.
She also told me that while she was in court, the judge asked everyone who was there for a speeding ticket. Several raised their hands. The judge said "Well, we need new cars, so you may as well go on and plead guilty, pay your fine, and go on. I'm going to find you guilty anyway."
Since she told me this story, I try to never go to Franklin. I'm a safe driver, but with these made up laws, am I the next to be ticketed?
Oh, before you ask, no, I've never gotten a ticket in my life.
