ACCUSED JAYWALKER WRONGLY FINED $600.

Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer

A $114 jaywalking ticket given to an 82-year-old Sunland woman -- a citation that sparked the ire of senior citizens citywide -- almost cost the recipient $600 because of a clerical error by the court, officials said Friday.

Mayvis Coyle was cited Feb. 15 for jaywalking after a police officer said she crossed busy Foothill Boulevard against the light. She then was slapped with a $600 fine for failing to appear in court -- although her son, Jim, said she mailed paperwork seeking a noncourt trial well in advance of the filing deadline.

What happened then to the documents -- sent via certified mail -- is unclear, Jim Coyle said.

But when Mayvis Coyle's declaration didn't get into the right hands, a judge declared that she had failed to appear in court. He fined her $600 and sent her case to a collection agency.

With his mother vacationing in Colorado, Jim Coyle called Traffic Court and went to the San Fernando Courthouse this week to sort out the mess. He said a clerk told him his mother's statement had been sent to ``the wrong area of the building.''

At Jim Coyle's request, his mother's paperwork was resubmitted and the hefty fine rescinded.

``I don't want to look at it with a jaundiced eye,'' said Jim Coyle, who lives in North Hollywood. ``It was just a simple mistake.''

Traffic Court administrator Greg Blair said the failure-to-appear charge has been deleted from Coyle's file and that Los Angeles police Officer Kelly, whose first name has not been disclosed, has until June 20 to mail the court his statement on what happened that day in February.

In a trial by declaration, a judge decides a case based on written statements by the involved parties.

On Feb. 15, Kelly wrote Coyle a ticket, saying she entered the crosswalk on a don't-walk signal. Coyle insists she entered on a walk signal.

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

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