On camera, off the hook

When clients are caught on red-light cameras, one Newport lawyer can make them smile again.For attorney Fred Fascenelli, getting a traffic ticket from a red-light camera is more than a costly annoyance. It’s a case.

Fascenelli, a criminal defense lawyer, has expanded his practice with a new office in Newport Beach. He spent time outside the courtroom Wednesday to set up his new digs on Mariner’s Mile.

Fascenelli’s interest in taking clients’ red-light ticket cases to court was sparked in 2004 when he received a red-light camera ticket from the city of Fullerton.

“I didn’t like the whole concept. I didn’t like having a ticket mailed to me,” he said.

Fascenelli’s first case did not work out his favor. He chose to represent himself, and he now acknowledges that decision was a mistake. But after a friend received a ticket, Fascenelli wanted to try again. Eventually, red-light cases became a part of his case load.

Though traffic violations are not serious crimes, Fascenelli said prosecutors are held to the same burden of proof in red-light cases as they are in felony and misdemeanor cases.

“Most people think it’s a fait accompli: ‘OK, you got me,’” Fascenelli said. “They [prosecutors] have to prove it. The burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. Just like you’d see on ‘Law and Order.’”

Red-light cases are not very glamorous, Fascenelli said. Defending each client takes about three hours of work, and he can handle three or four red-light trials in one day. Many times, the essence of his strategy is making objections to the evidence available from a red-light camera.

“Every case is different. But most of them hinge on [the accused’s] identity or keeping the prosecutor’s, or people’s, evidence from making it to the desk of the commissioner,” he said.

The cost of paying a red-light violation can exceed $300. Fascenelli charges clients the ticket’s bail amount plus an administrative fee. If he loses, his firm pays the ticket.

Fascenelli said his clients seek legal aid because they want to avoid a ticket’s negative effect on their car insurance premiums or would simply rather pay a lawyer than the government.

In Costa Mesa, red-light cameras have been used at four intersections -- Newport Boulevard at 17th and 19th streets, Harbor Boulevard and Adams Avenue, and Bristol and Anton streets -- since June 2003. Seven more cameras are planned but have yet to be installed, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver said.

In February, an Orange County Superior Court judged ruled that Costa Mesa could not legally collect fines at the Newport Boulevard intersections because traffic signals at the intersections were operated by Caltrans, not the city. Costa Mesa officials eventually cleared the legal issues surrounding the cameras and regained the ability to use those cameras to issue citations.

Fascenelli’s phone number is (800) 848-4131.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards@latimes.com.

20051128iqn19qknKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Attorney Fred Fascenelli, who specializes in defending clients who have received tickets based on red-light cameras, has opened an office in Newport Beach.