In July, those tickets arrived in traffic court, before Administrative Law Judge William Lee at Queens North, an employee of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

It took 47 seconds to dispose of the case, according to the official recording.

The first thing you hear is the judge puzzling over the spelling of the defense lawyer’s name.

“Mr. Truck? Turck? K-C. T-U-R-C-K. All right, make your appearance counselor.” That takes 13 seconds.

Shawn Turck states his name, the driver’s name, and his law firm address.

Then the judge says: “This is an accident investigation? No personal observation?" A police officer, never identified on the tape, says “That’s right.” Then the judge asks “No videotape?" But before the officer can get beyond the word “Um—“ the judge stamps the tickets. That takes all of six seconds. Then: “Not Guilty.”

The judge doesn’t ask the police officer to state what happened, or ask for any official documents or investigations. The police officer doesn't protest that YES, there IS a video tape.

State sources said it was up to the police to present their case. Police sources say they’ve been complaining to the DMV for a long time that it’s wrong, legally, for judges to require a “personal observation” in traffic fatality cases —but the DMV hasn’t responded.