I lost $20k after being ticketed for helping an injured bear – I fought for my innocence but the judge wouldn’t listen

A DRIVER has spent a five-figure sum to fight back against a traffic ticket. He said his road decision was the right thing to do.

A famous wildlife photographer, Tom Mangelsen, reportedly spent $20,000 on legal fees as he pushed back against the ticketing officer. But police said he broke important road laws .

Getty

Getty

Mangelsen received the ticket on October 9, 2022, according to Oil City News .

The photographer was driving in Grand Teton National Park when he spotted a famous grizzled bear.

Moments before, a vehicle struck the bear on a highway. She was struggling on the roadside.

The bear could not tend to her cubs.

Mangelsen was driving slowly behind the bear, hoping that over vehicles would decelerate and avoid a more catastrophic injury.

When police found the driver below the speeding limit, they assigned a citation for obstructing traffic.

“This is behavior that needs to be deterred,” Assistant US Attorney Ariel Calmes said.

Calmes recommended giving the driver a $500 fine.

Eventually, the bear fully recovered from the 2022 injury and continued to care for her cubs.

But the fine haunted Mangelsen. He spent top dollar attempting to fight back against the fines and went to court in 2024.

He told the publication he paid an estimated $20,000 in attorney fees to hold a full-court defense against the infraction.

His attorney, Ed Bushnell, brought experts to the stand and even cross-examined officers at the scene.

Bushnell brought Chris Flaherty, a retired park officer, to the stand. Flaherty said that Mangelsen made a heroic gesture and was fined.

“Safety is always the priority, and not slowing down traffic was mismanaging or not managing the scene,” Flaherty said on the stand.

“Bottom line is that if this scene was managed correctly, we wouldn’t be here right now having this conversation.”

Despite the investment, the judge decided against Mangelsen’s defense.

How to fight a speeding ticket

According to a legally reviewed post, there are five effective strategies to fighting a speeding ticket if it was wrongfully issued.

1. If pulled over and issued a ticket, drivers can argue or dispute a driver’s personal opinion. When issuing a speeding ticket, an officer is required to write their opinion and come to an “objective” conclusion. If the ticket was written based on that judgment, it can be contested. An example would be if you were going 75 mph in a 65 mph zone because others were traveling at the same speed, you could argue that it would be more dangerous to travel at 65 mph.
2. You can dispute the officer’s presentation of evidence. If you were ticketed for something like running a stop sign or making an illegal u-turn, you can’t contest that if an officer saw you, but you can call things into court like eyewitnesses, diagrams, or photos.
3. Argue that the ticket was issued by a “mistake of fact.” This is tricky, but a “mistake of fact” is a mistake made by a driver about a situation that was beyond their control, or if a driver legitimately did not know they were violating the law. For example, you were driving in two lanes because the lane markers were so worn down that you could not see them.
4. You could say circumstances justified your driving. You could say you were speeding to pass a possibly drunk driver, or avoiding an accident by rapidly changing lanes. However, the argument won’t work if there’s proof you continued to speed after passing.
5. Similar to the above, it could be argued that speeding was necessary to avoid harm. The key is to argue that if you weren’t speeding, you or someone else could have been harmed.
6. Consult a traffic attorney, if all else fails. Many have free consultations to decide whether or not there’s a case.

Source: FindLaw

“This case is about a traffic ticket,” the judge said.

“I was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that you did obstruct traffic. I think you did it on purpose because you were doing it to protect the bears.”

The judge advised Mangelsen to stop fighting against the park service and to pay off the $500 fine.

But the photographer said it’s “a nice idea” that may be too “pie in the sky.”

Mangelsen said he is considering appealing the ruling.

The U.S. Sun contacted the photographer for this story.