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#1124666 - 12/21/09 11:45 PM
Public Safety Chair Arrested
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newsman38
Senior Member
Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 2952
Loc: Fourth Estate
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Tompkins legislator charged due to outstanding driving violation
ITHACA -- A Tompkins County legislator is facing a misdemeanor charge related to an outstanding traffic violation.
But Martha Robertson, who also is the chairwoman of the legislature's public safety committee, said her arrest last week was the result of a paperwork mix-up and that the Ithaca Police shouldn't have taken her into custody,
"They could've issued me a ticket right there," she said, adding that police refused her request to go to her house and see the paperwork. At the station, Sgt. Andy Navarro told her they were waiving her bail based on her community connections, and Patrick Kimmich -- the arresting officer -- "apologized profusely" before driving her home, she recalled.
Robertson said she subsequently spoke to [Tompkins County District Attorney Gwen] Wilkinson, whom she described as a fellow Democrat, political colleague and friend. Wilkinson told her that the court shouldn't have suspended her license without telling her, and that there was no reason for her to be arrested, she added.
Wilkinson will call Ithaca City Court and have the charge dismissed.
As chairwoman of the legislature's public safety committee, the experience may be useful, she said.
"It wasn't an experience I was looking for, but you try to be philosophic about these things and find value in everything," Robertson said. "I have a sense of what it feels like to be arrested for doing nothing wrong, and how the system can mess you up. I have a renewed sympathy for people this happens to."
License suspended over paperwork problem, Robertson says
By Raymond Drumsta •rdrumsta@gannett.com • December 20, 2009, 6:35 pm
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#1124681 - 12/22/09 02:03 AM
Re: Public Safety Chair Arrested
[Re: newsman38]
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jmonte97
Member
Registered: 08/13/07
Posts: 20
Loc: Finger Lakes
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What a shame. She was treated like anyone else who would be in the same position. It sounds like IPD followed their policy on how they handle a person driving with a suspended license, other than driving her home. Her issue should be with the DMV or whatever court suspended her license, not IPD.
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#1128182 - 01/02/10 11:25 AM
Re: Public Safety Chair Arrested
[Re: VM Smith]
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LittleKing
Member
Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 73
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Sounds like the "good old girl" network in Ithaca.
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#1142447 - 02/03/10 11:18 PM
Public Safety Chair Pleads Out
[Re: Taxpayer14456]
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newsman38
Senior Member
Registered: 03/21/01
Posts: 2952
Loc: Fourth Estate
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Robertson pleads guilty to city traffic charge
Tompkins County Legislature Chair Martha Robertson has to pay $60 by March 31 to end her misdemeanor traffic case, according to court officials. On Wednesday, Robertson pleaded guilty to having insufficient tail lamps in satisfaction of the aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charge she was facing.
Court paperwork indicates that Robertson was ordered to pay a $10 fine and a $50 mandatory surcharge.
February 3, 2010, 10:40 pm
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#1142534 - 02/04/10 07:58 AM
Re: Public Safety Chair Pleads Out
[Re: newsman38]
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past tense
Diamond Member
Registered: 03/05/03
Posts: 28324
Loc: Houston, TX
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Let's talk about the FIFTY DOLLAR SURCHARGE New York! Geez!
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