My daughter was charged with not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. She believed that she did (as there was pedestrian at the crosswalk (who subsequently didn't attempt to cross) and explained this to the officer. He must have been in a bad mood as he proceeded to give her a second ticket for excess noise, as her cars muffler got a crack and it she hasn't had it fixed yet (only 2 days old).

Anyway the officer advised her not to try to fight the infraction in court as he has the whole thing on dash cam! Do they present this type of evidence in court?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

qube wrote:

Anyway the officer advised her not to try to fight the infraction in court as he has the whole thing on dash cam! Do they present this type of evidence in court?

Any evidence will be made available to you if requested. Any evidence will also be used in court if it's essential to the case.

Please forgive me, can I take it as yes they will show the dash cam video in court?

qube wrote:

Please forgive me, can I take it as yes they will show the dash cam video in court?

If they have it, and they choose to use it, then yes, it will be used in court. It will also be disclosed to you assuming you request disclosure which you should do once you have a trial date.

The Town of Smith Falls uses video pretty much every time someone sets up on a stop sign controlled intersection.

Numerous times, the video does not support the charge - watch your disclosed video closely.

Yes, they may present the dashcam evidence in court IF it benefits their case.

I would choose Option 3 on the ticket (request a Trial with the Officer PRESENT).

Once you get notice of trial, you can then request disclosure. In your disclosure request, make sure you request the dash cam video, whether or not the prosecution plans to enter it as evidence or not.

I would also try to get a copy of the dash cam video prior to this as well. First try contacting the police station and see if they have a request form of some kind. It not, then try a Freedom Of Information Request to get it.

If your daughter did stop, and the video shows it, then the prosecution will not want to use it as evidence and may not want to produce it. So you would be best to try and get a copy yourself.

Anyway the officer advised her not to try to fight the infraction in court as he has the whole thing on dash cam!

You have no downside to fighting it. If you don't fight it, then you are simply found guilty of the charges and your insurance may go up and you get some demerit points. If you do decide to fight it, you at least get to see their evidence and decide if they really have a case against you. After you get disclosure and IF it does include a video showing that she did not stop completely, then you would simply show up at court the day of the trial and you can either (i) have your trial to try and fight it, or (ii) prosecutor may offer you some kind of plea deal. If you simply want to plead guilty after receiving disclosure, then you don't even need to show up at court.

What's the charge and section number for the excessive noise charge she got?

jsherk wrote:

I would also try to get a copy of the dash cam video prior to this as well. First try contacting the police station and see if they have a request form of some kind. It not, then try a Freedom Of Information Request to get it.

I'd simply request the video through disclosure. You'd have to pay for the video if requested through F.O.I. whereas it's free to get it through disclosure.

jsherk wrote:

If your daughter did stop, and the video shows it, then the prosecution will not want to use it as evidence and may not want to produce it. So you would be best to try and get a copy yourself.

If there evidence showing there is no basis to the charge, they will drop it. They are not hiding evidence.

bend wrote:

If there evidence showing there is no basis to the charge, they will drop it. They are not hiding evidence.

It would be great if all prosecutors/officers actually kept this great high moral standard! Hopefully they will in this case.

Hopefully said video also has somewhat respectable audio quality (it should) so this should also help you figure out the loud muffler stuff as well.

If there is in-car video evidence that was provided with disclosure, and the prosecutor doesn't choose to use it in court, will it still be available on the trial date for the defendant to use it?