IN THE MAGISTRATE COURT
COUNTY OF MOTOWN
STATE OF NEW MEXICO
STATE OF NEW MEXICO,
Plaintiff,
v. M-01-CR-8675309
HOMER SIMPSON,
Defendants.
MOTION TO DISMISS
Homer Simpson appears through counsel and herein moves to dismiss the charges against him for violating NMSA §66-7-372. The facts are as follows.
Mr. Simpson was pulled over on April 10, 2010, and was given a ticket for violating NMSA §66-7-372. He was driving a 1994 Subaru Loyale. When he purchased this vehicle, it only had a lap belt on both the driver’s and passenger’s sides. In December 2009, he paid to have shoulder belts installed on both the driver’s and passenger’s sides. The result was that there are actually two separate safety belts for each seat – one for the lap and one for the shoulder. The lap belt buckles to the lower right of where the driver is sitting, while the shoulder belt buckles separately, on the upper left, where the door closes. When ticketing Mr. Simpson, the officer stated something to the effect of, “The law is that you have to wear all the available safety belts, not just your lap belt.” The officer noted on the ticket that he was ticketing Mr. Simpson for not wearing his shoulder belt, as opposed to not wearing a safety belt.
NMSA § 66-7-372 provides, “[E]ach occupant of a motor vehicle… shall have a safety belt properly fastened about his body at all times when the vehicle is in motion on any street or highway.” Mr. Simpson complied with this law by wearing the lap belt which was in the car when it was manufactured. To state that Mr. Simpson must wear TWO safety belts is not consistent with the law as written.
In light of the foregoing, Mr. Simpson requests that the charges against him be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
______
Jennifer Goldman, Esq.
9800 Granite Avenue
Motown, New Mexico 87888
410-867-5309 (Phone)
410-867-5399 (Fax)
Attorney for Defendant
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