Disobey stop, multiple errors in officers notes

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PickDriver
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Disobey stop, multiple errors in officers notes

by: PickDriver on
Fri Jan 01, 2016 4:10 pm

Notice of Trial received Dec 4 for court date on Jan 6.
I requested disclosure on Dec 23 at prosecutor's office and was given a photocopy of the officer notes.
Was told at that time my request was too late to get a DVD of the dashcam video before my trial.

Officer's notes indicate:
============
- "this stop sign controls traffic traveling s/b"
- "I observe a motor vehicle approach the stop sigh going n/b"

- "Red sigh with white STOP and white border. Under is a white all way sigh with red all way and red border on the smaller sign."
============
(those are precise quotes including the spelling errors)

1) The officer is indicating I was moving in a direction I was not, in contradiction to what the video likely shows.

2) The stop sign is a single sign for entry from a side street onto a major thoroughfare, it is not an all way stop and the there is no such smaller sign affixed below the sign in question.

My approach here will be:
- attend on Jan 6 and request adjournment due to insufficient disclosure and reduced time due to the holiday period
- if not granted question the officer on the inconsistencies within the notes and versus the video which will likely show I am s/b and that it is not an all-way stop intersection
**My question: how should I go about this questioning politely but to get the desired results**

Thanks in advance
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jsherk
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by: jsherk on
Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:06 pm

You should take pictures from all angles of the intersection and sign.

Print out 3 copies of each pictures at some place like walmart and make sure they have time/date stamp on them. Take those with you so if you have to question officer you can show him pictures.
+++ This is not legal advice, only my opinion +++
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screeech
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by: screeech on
Fri Jan 01, 2016 6:37 pm

What will that dash cam video show? You never said you stopped. If the video shows you did not stop, there is a good chance you will still be convicted, even with the problems with the notes.
You will more than likely be given an adjournment, however, they may say you should have asked for the video sooner, you waited 19 days before requesting disclosure. You are the one who caused the reduced time because of the holidays by requesting disclosure two days before Christmas.
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PickDriver
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by: PickDriver on
Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:10 am

OP here again - since I haven't seen the video I'm wondering how it will look. It's from a Toronto Police Services scout car:

1) Will the dashcam video have visible reference marks like date/time stamp and more importantly location (eg: GPS coords)?
2) Will it likely show my plate clearly to establish that the video is my car rather than just the officer's saying so?
3) If my car leaves the frame at all is that sufficient to say it might not be the same car at the end of the stop other than the officer's saying so?
4) What is the required chain of custody of this video from the time of the stop to its appearance in the court room?

Since the officer's notes demonstrate he has no recollection of the incident - ie: traveling wrong direction, incorrect configuration of sign and intersection - he can be shown to be an unreliable witness. If the video doesn't show my plate and doesn't show location then only the officer can testify that the video is specific to the incident, and he is already unreliable. This means the video may not be applicable either.
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jsherk
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by: jsherk on
Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:42 am

The officers testimony (based on his notes) is usually sufficient to get a conviction, so the video evidence may not even be needed.

Without actually seeing the video though, there is no way to know what it shows or what is on it. It may help prosecutors case or it may help your case but it would be pure speculation as to what it might show. Now if the officers notes are really way off then the video might be good to show these discrepencies. However if the video shows you not stopping, then it will most likely help convict you.
+++ This is not legal advice, only my opinion +++
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ynotp
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by: ynotp on
Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:19 am

I personally would make no further disclosure attempts go straight into trial and object to the introduction of the video only if they try it introduce it at trial based on the fact that it wasn't disclosed. At trial get the officer to testify from his notes then pick apart the officers testimony based on the errors in the notes.
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