Topic

Dash Cam Video

Author: Observer135


Post Reply
Observer135
Member
Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:33 am

Posting Awards

Dash Cam Video

Unread post by Observer135 »

Yesterday I attended a traffic court in York region.

The process went as you would expect, the prosecutor called each defendant one by one and offered a plea deal and nearly all of them accepted the deal and pleaded guilty.

Near the end of the day the prosecutor asked for a recess to setup some videos and during this time they played dash cam videos of cruisers recording drivers who failed to stop at the stop sign and got pulled over.


As these were played, the rest of the people who were there also accepted a plea deal and cases were closed, so no one actually went through the motions of an actual trial with an officer testifying etc.


Now, what I found rather odd/interesting is that, they never played any of the videos to the end when the driver is actually pulled over.

Furthermore, why offer a reduced charge when you have a bullet proof evidence? It just puzzles me, but that is not my question...


So my question is, has anyone actually seen someone or themselves pleaded not guilty forcing persecution to play the video in court as evidence?

jsherk
High Authority
High Authority
Posts: 1722
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:18 pm

Re: Dash Cam Video

Unread post by jsherk »

The only comment I have is that the pulling over part of the video has nothing to do with the charge of not stopping at the stop sign, which is why they would not need to play it all the thru.

+++ This is not legal advice, only my opinion +++
Stanton
High Authority
High Authority
Posts: 2111
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: Ontario

Posting Awards

Re: Dash Cam Video

Unread post by Stanton »

Observer135 wrote:Now, what I found rather odd/interesting is that, they never played any of the videos to the end when the driver is actually pulled over.

Furthermore, why offer a reduced charge when you have a bullet proof evidence? It just puzzles me, but that is not my question...


So my question is, has anyone actually seen someone or themselves pleaded not guilty forcing persecution to play the video in court as evidence?


It's very infrequent since most defendants don't bother forcing a trial if they feel there's relatively definitive evidence of the offence. The very few times I've seen defendants force a trial when there's video evidence involved people who felt there was a justification for their actions.


As for why the Crown still offers plea deals even when video evidence exists, it's simply a matter of time and resources. The Crown and Courts simply don't have the resources to run a trial for every defendant. Even the most straightforward trial takes 15-20 minutes whereas a plea deal takes about 2. Also many jurisdictions schedule trials on days that the officers are working, so they'd rather not have the police tied up in Court all day waiting to give testimony.

Observer135
Member
Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:33 am

Posting Awards

Re: Dash Cam Video

Unread post by Observer135 »

Stanton wrote:

It's very infrequent since most defendants don't bother forcing a trial if they feel there's relatively definitive evidence of the offence. The very few times I've seen defendants force a trial when there's video evidence involved people who felt there was a justification for their actions.



OK, thank you both for your comments.


But I am not clear on what Stanton is implying by "it is infrequent", are you saying that you have seen these videos used as evidence during a trial?

Observer135
Member
Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:33 am

Posting Awards

Re: Dash Cam Video

Unread post by Observer135 »

Stanton wrote:Yes, when defendants have gone to trial.

Thank you for clarifying.


Followup question: have you ever seen a defendant win the case with a video evidence being presented?

Stanton
High Authority
High Authority
Posts: 2111
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:49 pm
Location: Ontario

Posting Awards

Re: Dash Cam Video

Unread post by Stanton »

Observer135 wrote:Followup question: have you ever seen a defendant win the case with a video evidence being presented?

The short answer is no, but that doesn't mean that a ticket is unbeatable.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics

Return to “Failing to obey a stop sign, traffic control stop/slow sign, traffic light or railway crossing signal”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests