Listen criminal. You are in a lucky spot, because today a defense lawyer shares the key to freedom. Her name is Kyla Lee. She gets idiots like us out of traffic violations, motorcyclists get speeding tickets far more commonly than other drivers, and part of the reason for that is that smaller objects can appear to be going faster than larger objects and louder vehicles can appear to be going faster than Quieter vehicles! So if you have a nice loud motorcycle next to a quiet Prius, you’re, going to be perceived to be going faster, just based on flaws in human perception.
Well, [, __ ]! I have two pet guinea pigs, one in front and one behind. I’m, taking cues from truckers who hear about traps on CB radio. I should be hard to pull over, but my bike looks like a rolling violation, so even still six one nine strawberries, one of the biggest things that people do that hurts their cases is talking anytime, you stay silent, it can’t, be used against You, but if you say, oh, my god officer, I’m.
So sorry, I was in a rush that’s, an admission of guilt and if you’re dishonest, when you’re dealing with the police that can be used against you as evidence that you have bad characters, so will Lie at the roadside, even if you think that you’re trying to protect yourself, can then be brought up in court as evidence that you’re, not telling the truth in court.
So basically, the best advice I can give to people to protect themselves. Roadside is don’t, say anything. Don’t make any admissions. It is possible to please an officer while exercising your right to say nothing.
Well, not that let’s, go on a ride in the back of a cop car. Not that just take your time. Choosing the perfect spot to pull over our friends in blue appreciate having the least dangerous place to stand, then do three things: phone on record helmet off hands on tank.
Of course, I cuddle kittens and walk old. Ladies across the road, but cops don’t know that they want to see that I’m, not gonna pull a runner or a gun. It’s, always a good idea to take a recording of the interaction with the police officer.
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But you don’t want to be obvious about it, because if you’re being a jerk, you’re waving around your phone and you’re yelling. I’ve, got you on camera officer that’s. Gon na take your case. The officer is going to be more careful about what they say and what they do and the evidence that they’re gathering.
They’re gonna take better notes, and they’re gonna prepare a stronger case against you, not only because you’re, probably really annoying them, but also because they’re thinking in their mind. At that point in time, this guy’s.
Gon na take this to trial, [ Music ]. Nobody gets convicted on the side of a road, so there is zero benefit in making half-baked legal arguments with a police officer. In fact, as soon as you go all legally blonde and become an obstruction, the officer has authority to seize your recording device, which is a big bullet in your foot.
So if I want to facilitate the officers jobs that they have mercy on and soul at the same time, leaving no impressions that could be used in the courtroom eight months from now, I need to know the exact responses I am legally obligated to give in British Columbia, the law states that you were required to state your name, your address, the registered owner of the vehicle and the name and address of the registered owner beyond that do not say anything.
Don’t volunteer information beyond what the officer is asking you for, or what you’re legally obligated to give anything that you say is going to shore up the officers, evidence about your identity and if the officer is sloppy and making Their notes or forgets to identify you, those things, can assist you in court and get the ticket dismissed.
But if you give them that information and you make it easy for them – that’s, not going to help you out at the end of the day, [ Music ] cops will bait you with the cliches. Any idea why I pulled you over today or do you know how fast you were going back there? Don’t fall for it.
It seems weird to have a one-way conversation, but it isn’t rude. It’s. Your right immediately after receiving the ticket, it’s very important to take notes about what happened. If you don’t, take your notes.
Contemporaneously! They’re, not going to be admissible to refresh your memory when it comes to trial. When you take your notes right to my lawyer at the top of the page, this ensures that it’s, considered a privileged communication and cannot be evidence that’s used against you in court.
If you’re, even thinking about hiring a lawyer, do it now because they’ll file, the dispute for you. In that case the court arranges a date that is guaranteed to work with their schedule. Lawyers are clever bastards.
They’ll, be available back to school day in September, the Monday after the long weekend, sometime an officer is less likely to show up. I personally don’t like requesting disclosure until I show up at the trial, and the reason for this is I don ‘
T need a lot of time to prepare with it if it’s a ordinary ticket, I kind of know what’s coming, but I don’t want the officer to be preparing himself knowing little lawyers coming getting ready. Practicing his evidence making sure that it’s all tight.
I want to take him by surprise, and I find the element of surprise is the most beneficial and that works for Kyla, because she’s. A genius who builds cases on the fly an average Joe representing himself and probably worth getting the disclosure in advance.
So I can prepare. You may be expecting the Mueller report on your ass, but you ‘ Ll, actually receive the scribblings of a Greek toddler. Typos are common, though almost never grounds for dismissal.
Messy shorthand, however, is worth requesting. Typed explanations, for I once had a prosecutor who chose to negotiate at this point rather than go through the effort of translating you go to court. The cop doesn’t not guilty dismissed, but that’s.
Rare around here, eighty-one percent of cases, are tried with the officer present outside the courtroom. The officer is going to try to negotiate a plea deal with you, and you have to be very careful if you’re self represented, because discussions that you have with the officer are potentially evidence that could be used against you.
Whereas if you have a lawyer, your lawyer can have a privileged discussion, which isn’t constituting an admission of guilt, for example, as a lawyer I can say you know what officer my client was just trying his new bike out.
He was really excited. You know how it is and that’s, not going to be evidence that can be used in court. Whereas if you do that, and you try and appeal to the officers, human side, that’s, an admission of guilt and you can be later cross-examined on it in court representing yourself and the officer – will still try to push a plea deal during the Slimy bonanza, that is the 30 minutes before court.
It turns out that getting everyone home for dinner is more important than proving the truth and the whole truth, which is a tragedy considering. This is most people’s first and only experience of our legal system.
But if your case sucks that’s, probably worth taking the deal typically, an officer will let you plead to a lesser infraction or as the registered owner and not the driver, in which case the fine sticks.
But the points do not just make sure to let the officer do the talking don’t get tricked into letting slip your defenses, because that will only give the prosecution time to think of rebuttals and there will be time.
Traffic cases are scheduled by the Dozen plea. Deals are heard first, so if you go to trial it’s, a three hour sit away. This bad news mind you. Sometimes the court adjourns before finishing the docket, so they’ll reschedule, and that is a crown delay.
There are rules in Canada about how long the prosecution has to bring the case against you. If your case takes longer than 18 months to get to court, then there’s, a good chance that it’s, going to be thrown out for being too far in the future in too much delay.
This is called the Jordon bait. It’s magic number of 18 months. The problem is with those dates that you can’t do anything to cause the delay if the 18 months of delay is your fault, because you’ve asked for a number of adjournment that’s.
Gon na work against you, the only delay that is in your favor is institutional delay and delay that’s been caused by the officer in trial. The prosecution goes first, the state bears the burden of proof in proving that you committed the offense.
So the officer will take the stand. They’ll testify and tell their version of events after the officer is done, giving their evidence. You have the opportunity to cross-examine. This means that you can ask questions and try and poke holes in the officers story.
Identify things that don’t make sense, challenge him on his perception memory, narrations and air sincerity. Those factors you’re all soaked obligated in cross-examination to put your version of events to the officer and if you don’t, do that.
Then you’re, not likely to be believed. When you take the stand and tell your story, because the officer didn’t have the opportunity to comment on it. This is called the rule in Brown & amp Dunn. It comes from a very old case that says in cross-examination.
The witnesses have to be confronted with the alternative version of events. Isn’t it true that there was another vehicle right beside me. Is it within your radars capability to measure that vehicle? Instead, I’ll [ __ ] like that.
Just be careful to phrase everything has a question: it’s, easy to get overly excited by your first chance to talk and blurt out your side of the story, but you are not allowed to testify during cross-examination.
Nothing will annoy how to judge more ask questions, put evidence or scenarios to the officer to comment on, but no testifying once the officer is completed, giving their evidence and has closed their case.
It’s, your opportunity to present your case. This means that you can take the stand. You can call witnesses in your defense and you can introduce any evidence you have in support of your case, videos or documents, or anything like that.
You should be aware, though, that once you take the stand, the officer has the opportunity to cross-examine you and can ask you questions to try and poke holes in your story. Obviously there are a million ways to argue.
A million cases was the evidence presented exactly the same, as was disclosed to you, which model of radar gun and were you beyond the angle of its accurate range? Was it calibrated that morning? What did legal subsections say and are there provisions that take you off the hook? Our universal advice is to work clean and concise.
You don’t need some eighteen point case for being the sparkling unicorn of Road Safety. You need one reasonable doubt that you and your evidence can honestly stand behind and going more elaborate, only risks claiming something indefensible for the prosecution to pick on and the very least it will annoy the judges tight schedule.
So it might be a good idea to try and practice in the mirror beforehand what you intend to say so that you have a sense of what’s important and what’s irrelevant and you don’t, get caught Up and start telling the judge about what you had for lunch, you cannot read off notes or prepare a script in advance of court, so you need to make sure that you’re, just giving your testimony from the heart.
However, if you do make notes that are contemporaneous with events, you are allowed to use those to refresh your memory of details, because a lot of time will have passed. Every document that supports your case should be duplicated.
The judge will only consider them if you leave a copy sworn in, avoid loading evidence onto your cell phone or laptop, because electronic devices are usually banned in court. The same goes for helmet cams.
You’ll need to burn a couple, old-school discs and be sure to call the court ahead of time, so they can allocate equipment to play it. If you’re found guilty, the judge is going to want to hear about what sentence you should be given.
You may have a perfectly clean driver’s abstract, having a copy of that will be helpful to produce in sentencing, to show that you don’t deserve any further penalties beyond the fine. If you’re in financial, dire straits – and you need more time to pay the fine or reduced fine, you should have evidence of your financial situation ready to go and hand up to the judge.
If you’ve done anything in the meantime to remediate yourself like taking driving courses or online classes about driving. You should have the certificates of completion from that to show that you ‘
Ve done some things to rehabilitate and if you have a horrible driving record, be aware that your previous riding awards can come up during prosecution, causing the judge to levy a harsher punishment than the original ticket.
Road runners should hire professional help to avoid digging a deeper hole. Kyla’s. Advice gives you a good chance of a good outcome. If not it’s, probably because you really deserve that fine. So take it proudly as someone who behaved respectfully, but not spineless ly, with an officer as a citizen who knew their rights and kept our legal system in check.
Take your medicine knowing and it’ll, be easier to swallow. Thank You. Kyla Leigh for gifting. Thank You, Kyla Leigh for gifting us, you’re, extremely valuable time and knowledge. Acumen law is based here in Vancouver.
Their YouTube channel blogs and podcasts on driving law are linked below and can be accessed from anywhere