Zunis

THE COURT [*] :

Appellant, Tatiana Artiga Zunis, was cited for violating Vehicle Code section 22348, subdivision (b) — driving at a speed in excess of 100 mph. She pled not guilty and the case proceeded to a court trial. The facts are taken from the settled statement on appeal. [1]

California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Hines testified he was on duty in a CHP aircraft in San Bernardino County at an altitude of approximately 1000 to 1200 feet, when he observed appellant's vehicle traveling at a speed he visually estimated to be 105 mph. He based his estimate on his 40-hour radar training class, where he had been required to make at least 100 estimates of a vehicle's speed within five miles per hour of actual speed. These visual training exercises were performed on the ground, not from the air. The officer did not recall how many estimates he made before he had reached 100 accurate estimates.

After making his visual estimate, the officer aligned his wing strut with appellant's vehicle and, using a stopwatch, he clocked the aircraft moving through one and one-half miles of freeway milepost markers. Then, he consulted a chart that converted time and distance to speed and found…