“How to win 2nd-level appeal of an unjustified ticket?”

“Dear PoPville,

I’m looking for advice on how to win the second-level appeal for an unjustified ticket where my first-level appeal was somehow unsuccessful.

TL;DR summary:

– My inspection sticker had an expiration date of 1/5/24.

– There was some leftover adhesive on the windshield that partially obscured the pointy left part of the “4,” making it look like a little bit like a “1.”

– A ticket officer who saw the sticker in February 2022 thought it said 1/5/21 and issued me a ticket.

– I appealed the ticket, explaining the situation and including a photo of the (removed) 1/5/24 inspection sticker (which the nice men at the DMV Inspection Station replaced with another sticker with an expiration date of 1/5/24).

– My appeal was rejected.

My ideas so far for the second-level appeal:

– Explaining again what happened, trying for maximum clarity.

– Including a scan or photo of the Vehicle Inspection Report from 1/5/22 — the report that corresponds to the sticker with expiration date 1/5/24. (I didn’t include this last time.)

– Maybe explaining that I never had a 2021 inspection sticker?? My inspections have always been in January of even-numbered years.

– Enlisting a councilmember’s constituent services people??

Details:

I received a ticket in early February 2022 saying that my inspection sticker had expired 1/5/21 (over a year earlier).

The inspection sticker actually said 1/5/24, not 1/5/21.

However, some adhesive from the previous sticker was left behind on the windshield, and some of this adhesive was partially obscuring the pointy left part of the “4,” making it look a little bit like a “1.”

(If the ticketing officer had looked more closely, they might have seen that it was a “4.”)

I went to the DMV Inspection Station and explained the problem. The nice men at the Inspection Station removed the sticker, scraped off all the adhesive where the sticker had been, put on a new sticker with expiration date 1/5/24, gave me the old inspection sticker with expiration date 1/5/24, and told me to make sure not to pay the ticket but instead to appeal it with an explanation of what happened.

I appealed it, explaining what had happened and including a photo of the removed 1/5/24 inspection sticker. (I submitted my appeal online. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep a copy of the wording I used in my appeal.)

I thought that would be sufficient. But recently I received a notice saying that my appeal had been denied, with this wording: “The citation indicates that the vehicle had an expired 2021 inspection sticker… Respondent stated that the vehicle’s current 2024 inspection sticker was covered by the 2021 sticker, when the citation was issued. Respondent has failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish a defense to the infraction…. Therefore, Respondent’s vehicle was in violation of the DC vehicle inspection requirements.”

(I did not say that the 2024 sticker was “covered” by a 2021 sticker. Not sure how the hearing examiner came to that conclusion.)

What can I do to make my second-level appeal successful when my first-level appeal didn’t work??

– I figure I should include a copy of the Vehicle Inspection Report from 1/5/22, which I didn’t include last time. (I didn’t think it would be necessary.)

– Perhaps I can point out that I never had a 2021 inspection sticker?? My inspections have always been in January of even-numbered years, so my previous inspection stickers expired in January 2022, January 2020, etc. I don’t have my Vehicle Inspection Report from 2020, but I do have the one from 2018. Should I include the 2018 report, or might that just confuse them??

– Is there any point in enlisting a councilmember’s constituent services people? I hate to bother them with something like this, considering that the majority of tickets issued are completely justified. But I don’t want to pay a $50 ticket for an inspection sticker that was never expired in the first place.

Thanks for any advice you can provide!”