Never Trust CHP Reports

You just can't trust the Government. The Government has all the power because they have the money, and we have been taught that the police are here to help us. Sadly, this just is not always true. Recently, I went into trial where the arresting officer had died. Yet, the Government decided to proceed the charges of Driving Under the Influence by bringing in five (5) other police officers. Here is the interesting part.
In a DUI case, in California, there are two (2) parts. One is civil; that is the DMV hearing. The second part is the criminal charge or charges. When my client was charged we immediately requested the DMV hearing which must be done within ten (10) days. We received copies of the police report and what is known as a DS-367 form under penalty of perjury stating the reason for the stop. Due to an illness, GERD, a disease that interferes with breath testing giving extremely high false positive results, my client with medical records and testimony of a medical doctor, my cleint won the DMV hearing.
A few months later, the District Attorney of Contra Costa County, California filed the criminal charges. We again received the police reports. The reports were exactly the same as those in the DMV hearing, as they should have been. A month or so after the criminal charges were filed, the arresting officer of my client, unfortunately, was killed in a car accident. There needs to be someone to testify as to the reason for the stop to meet 4th Amendment Constitutional grounds to proceed. As the officer was dead and there was nothing in either of his reports about any other officer being present, I was duty bound to file a motion to suppress evidence as there was no one to testify. The day before the hearing, the District Attorney's office supplied us with what appeared to be a supplemental report from another CHP officer dated the same day of the arrest of August 18, 2007. It appeared to have been lost or at least separated from the original report, however, there was no mention of this officer or of his specific observations, and there should have been.
This case went to trial. During the cross-examination of the police officer who wrote the supplemental report, Officer Borgen, he testified that he had been off duty in his personal vehicle on his way to work when he spotted my client allegedly weaving and speeding, so he called, not dispatch, but the arresting officer directly cell phone to cell phone, and my client just happened to exit where the arresting officer was located; still there was nothing in the arresting officer's report about this. Additionally, during the trial, Officer Borgen testified that some had asked him to write the supplemental report, it had never been cleared with a sergeant, and without notes he recalled the events, and wrote the report in February 2008 six (6) months later even though the report is dated August 18, 2007.
The District Attorney was aware of this. Other police officers were aware of this. Officer Borgen was aware of this, and yet the report is deemed official and trustworthy??? When asked why it was improperly dated, Officer Borgen stated that the computer automatically puts the date in, and he could not correct it. When asked why he couldn't white it out and write in the correct date to allow the reader to know of this inaccuracy and properly investigate, he just sat there. The report is falsified and the CHP and the DA think that it is alright to present this evidence to the defense without explanation as if it were done at the time of the event!!!! And, the CHP computers cannot allow the officers to properly write the date they wrote the report???
This deceitful and false report writing causes all persons arrested by the California Highway Patrol a great need to investigate every aspect of every report, and of course, the CHP will not cooperate. This is criminal. The notes collected and written at the scene are always thrown away, and there is no audio or video tape of the incident which leaves the citizen at the total mercy of the arresting officer in court.
This is the reason you need an attorney and have to fight the Government. Too many innocent people are charged and reports fabricated. This one was discovered, but who will do anything about it??? No One. Never Trust CHP Reports