A Toronto driver who fought and lost an accusation of failing to stop at a red light nearly two decades back has cleared his name on appeal.<\/p>\n
Neville Greene was charged on June 4, 2007. He pleaded not guilty, but a justice of the peace convicted him on July 10, 2008, after a police officer testified that he watched Greene turn left at the intersection of Sheppard Avenue West and Jane Street after the light turned red.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Justice of the Peace\u2019s reasons for conviction consist of the following two sentences: The officer was clear, concise and convincing of all the elements of the offence and the observations he made. There will be a finding of guilt and there will be a fine imposed,\u201d according to a recent appeal heard in Ontario\u2019s Court of Justice.<\/p>\n
Justice Brock Jones sided with Greene.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not explained to me why it took nearly 18 years for the appeal to be heard, other than that the paperwork may have been \u2018lost\u2019 for a long time. Nevertheless, for the reasons that follow, I granted the appeal,\u201d Jones wrote in a May 14 decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found that the Justice of the Peace\u2019s reasons for conviction were inadequate and failed to address any of the central issues raised at trial. I also found that the Justice did not provide the degree of assistance necessary to ensure a fair trial for a self-represented litigant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greene tried to provide the police officer who was the lone prosecution witness at his trial with photos of the intersection in question so he could authenticate them, Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose was to have the officer respond to the suggestion that there was construction in the area at the time, which might have impeded normal traffic flow. The photographs also had impeachment value, as the officer had previously testified that there was no construction in the area at the time. Mr. Greene asked the Justice how he could present the evidence properly, and the Justice sarcastically quipped that \u2018(this) isn\u2019t Law and Order\u2019 and he could testify later if he wanted to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greene testified that when he entered the intersection, the traffic light was green, said the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had to wait until the light turned amber before he could proceed through the intersection because another vehicle was in front of him. During cross-examination, he accepted the prosecutor\u2019s suggestion that the traffic light might have turned red before he finished moving through the intersection, but not before he entered.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he tried to enter his photos of the intersection as evidence, the justice of the peace\u00a0ruled they were inadmissible because they were taken the day after he was charged. \u201cThe Justice also demanded that the photographs be notarized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurists must explain how they arrive at a conclusion, Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reasons in this case fall woefully short of this standard. The Justice of the Peace does not explain that the appellant was presumed innocent or that the Crown bore the burden of proof on the essential elements of the offence,\u201d said the judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore concerning, the Justice of the Peace states, without any reasoning, that the officer\u2019s evidence was accepted and the appellant was convicted. The Justice of the Peace did not address or analyze the appellant\u2019s testimony at all, even though it could raise a reasonable doubt on an essential element of the offence: whether the appellant proceeded into the intersection when the light was red. Nor did the Justice of the Peace explain why the officer\u2019s testimony was accepted and the appellant\u2019s rejected, or why the appellant\u2019s testimony was not at least capable of raising a reasonable doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reasons \u201care particularly important when a court wrestles with contradictory evidence on a key issue,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize this was a short trial on a simple matter, and that provincial offences courts are inundated with multiple matters that may be set for a trial on any given day,\u201d he said. \u201cEven considering the extremely busy nature of these courts and the routine nature of this trial, the failure of the Justice to abide by the inherent duty to provide meaningful reasons cannot be excused.\u201d<\/p>\n
The justice of the peace didn\u2019t tell Greene how the trial process operates, Jones said.<\/p>\n
When Greene asked whether he could call evidence about ongoing construction on the day in question, the justice of the peace \u201cdismissed his question without providing any guidance on how he might properly present that potentially exculpatory evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evidence from any witness, \u201cincluding a police officer\u2019s, must be assessed by the court and will not merely be uncritically accepted,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cContrary to the Justice\u2019s mid-trial ruling, it was not only permissible but entirely appropriate for Mr. Greene to show the photographs to the officer during cross-examination, giving the officer an opportunity to reconsider his position that there was no construction in the area at the time of the offence. He should have assisted Mr. Greene with this questioning. Furthermore, he was wrong to reject the introduction of the photographs when Mr. Greene testified. Even if the photographs were taken the day after the offence, if Mr. Greene had testified to their accuracy and to the presence at the time of the offence of the construction depicted in them, that would have been a sufficient basis for their authentication.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there was no reason for the photos to be notarized, \u201cwhen the photographs\u2019 accuracy can be stipulated to by a live witness,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinally, I observe that sarcastic remarks uttered by a Justice to a legally untrained person who is presumed innocent are unbecoming and may bring the administration of justice into disrepute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones vacated Greene\u2019s conviction and acquitted him \u201cas it would not be in the public interest to send the case back for a new trial in these circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
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