(Florida) 'Cop Tickets Woman For Holding Cell Phone In A Right Hand That Doesn't Exist'
"Some of us have been pulled over for dumb reasons, but this one takes the cake. A Florida woman was cited for driving with her phone in her right hand. This may seem perfectly reasonable, except there's one problem — she doesn't have a right hand. Katie, who goes by the handle @slightlyoff.balance on social media, just received the police body cam footage of her traffic stop, and posted it on Instagram and TikTok for all to see."
"At first, she has a good sense of humor about it. After all, she doesn't have a right hand, and the officer must have made an innocent mistake. 'So, you want to just call this a day?' she says. The officer is polite, but continues to insist that he saw her manipulating her phone with her right hand. Several times during the stop, she holds up her right arm that clearly doesn't have a hand at the end, and can't possibly hold a phone as he accuses. In the end, the officer cites her for 'Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving – First Offense' with a $116 fine, reports CBS 12 News. She's taking this to court."
"Even if her lack of a right hand isn't adequate proof of her innocence (and it should be), Florida state law may still be in her favor. According to CBS 12 News, simply holding a phone is actually legal except in school and construction zones. The ticket does not say she was in either of these. Otherwise, drivers are simply prohibited from typing messages on their phones while driving. This would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, without a hand."
"The original traffic stop took place on February 11, meaning this has dragged out through the court system for more than three months, an excellent use of time, resources, and taxpayer money. Her first court date was online, and only to plead guilty or not guilty. She pleaded not guilty and opted for a trial rather than a plea deal. Weeks later, she finally has her day in court today. We will update this post when we know how it went."
Continued at link:
https://www.jalopnik.com/2182174/cop-tickets-woman-with-no-hand-for-holding-cell-phone/
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Last edited Wed May 27, 2026, 03:05 PM - Edit history (2)
Especially since she is indisputably innocent. Plea deals are convictions: not vindications, exonerations, and certainly not acquittals. Plea deals are confessions that you were guilty of SOMETHING. Here's a tale of two hiphoppers:
Four days before his trial was to start, Suge Knight accepted a plea deal on his charges of vehicular assault and vehicular homicide. Presumably he was persuaded that being convicted of the homicide (and receiving a life sentence with only a hope of parole) were so certain that he should "settle" for the opportunity of definite parole after 18 years.
Meanwhile, the police decided that sexual assault allegations against Sean Kingston were so bogus, they never filed a report. Kingston paid his accuser to not to file a civil suit, however -- and that was enough to get him barred from performing in Canada.
Rocknation