2010 Marks the Year of the First Published Case on the Admissibility of Evidence in Red Light Camera Cases-blog submitted by ticketbust.com, helping drivers contest and dismiss their traffic tickets.
Previously there was no case law on the subject of red light cameras and now finally there is. The case People v. Khaled (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th Supp. 1 was decided this year and is now precedent (pre-decided cases on the same subject) to future red light camera tickets on issues relating to the admissibility of evidence and hearsay rules on red light camera ticket cases.
In Khaled, the court held that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting photographic evidence which contained hearsay evidence concerning the matters depicted in the photographs including the date, time, and other information-- since the foundation for the introduction of the photographs and the underlying working of the automated red-light traffic enforcement camera system was outside the personal knowledge of the officer testifying in court--the evidence failed to establish each foundational fact and the photographs could not properly be admitted under any hearsay exception.
If the ticket mailed to you has a Certificate of Mailing stating it was mailed by an employee of the camera company and does not state that the camera company is a public employee or that they are otherwise employed by a public entity; if the person or persons who maintain the system do not testify; if no one with personal knowledge testifies about how often the system is maintained; if no one with personal knowledge testifies about how often the date and time are verified and corrected; if the custodian of records for the company that contracts with the city to maintain, monitor, store and disperse these photographs does not testify; if only the officer testifies on general information on how system worked based on his training and is unable to testify about the specific procedure for the programming and storage of the system information, then be sure to cite this case (case cite is People v. Khaled (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th Supp. 1) as reason why the citation should be dismissed.
The principles contained in the Khaled decision have created evidentiary hurdles for the Prosecution which could result in a significant number of red light camera tickets being dismissed. - blog submitted by ticketbust.com, helping drivers contest and dismiss their traffic tickets.
Contributed by ticketbust.com, helping drivers contest and dismiss their traffic tickets.