Appeal No.BB-39
County Case No. CI99-001858-XX
April 14, 2000

MELISSA ANN LEE,

Appellant,

vs.

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Appellee.

_________________________

This is an appeal of a traffic citation from the county court of Polk County, Hearing Officer Rachel N. Medlin presiding. Appellant, Melissa Ann Lee, appeals the ruling of the hearing officer. This court has jurisdiction. Fla. R. App. P. 9.030(c). Affirmed.

Trooper Pimentel of the Florida Highway Patrol observed Appellant traveling southbound on highway 27 just south of the State Road 600 overpass. He estimated her speed at 65 miles per hour, and clocked her vehicle on radar at the same speed. Trooper Pimentel presented evidence that his radar equipment was functioning properly and had been properly maintained. Appellant admitted that she was traveling 65 miles per hour in the southbound lane. The hearing officer adjudicated her guilty assessing fines and costs.

A hearing officer’s findings are presumptively correct and will be upheld if based upon competent substantial evidence. Kelle v. D. H. Holmes Co., Ltd., 658 So. 2d 1161, 1162 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). This court may not re-weigh evidence to reach a different outcome. Almeida v. State, 1999 WL 506965, at 11 (Fla. 1999).

Appellant presented a memorandum dated December 18, 1981 issued by T.M. Pridgen, Assistant District One Traffic Operations Engineer, regarding the speed restriction from mile post 14.654 to mile post 16.534 on Highway 27. The memorandum states that Highway 27 is a divided north-south highway with two lanes in each direction. According to the memorandum, the speed limit is reduced from 55 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour parallel sections of Highway 27, extending north and south from the State Road 600 overpass. In the southbound lane, the reduced speed zone begins at mile post 16.534 and continues southbound to mile post 14.654 where the speed limit returns to 55 miles per hour. Similarly, the reduced speed zone begins for northbound traffic at mile post 14.654 and continues north until mile post 16.534.

At mile post 14.654, the speed limit signs for northbound and southbound traffic are posted on opposite sides of the same post in the grassy median. The sign reads 45 miles per hour for north bound traffic indicating the beginning of the reduced speed area as traffic approaches the overpass. On the opposite side the sign reads 55 miles per hour for southbound traffic as traffic reaches the end of the reduced speed area south of the overpass indicating a return to the regular speed limit.

Trooper Pimentel testified that as he traveled north approaching the reduced speed zone, he spotted Appellant’s vehicle in the southbound lane while her vehicle was still inside the reduced speed zone. While Appellant argues on appeal that she was within the 55 mile per hour zone when the officer clocked her, her testimony and documents establish that she was in fact within the reduced speed zone. This court finds Appellant’s evidence and Trooper Pimentel’s testimony support the hearing officer’s findings.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the ruling of the county court is AFFIRMED.

ORDERED 14 April 2000

Charles B. Curry

Chief Judge