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Re: Hidden cameras to catch speeders
elandau@cais3.cais.com (Eric Landau) wrote:
>Checks, cameras, documents, videos, skid marks, blood stains, etc. don't
>just walk into court and get themselves admitted into evidence. They
>must be introduced in support of testimony given by a human being, and
>will be admitted into evidence by a judge only if he or she finds that
>they do in fact support that testimony.
Sorry if I misunderstood your argument. I just assumed the photoradar
evidence was presented by a police officer or photoradar technician,
rather than just floating into the courtroom alone and unaided. If this
is in fact the case (as I assume it must be), we are in agreement -- that
physical or mechanically-collected evidence (such as a photo of a skidmark
or a radar photo), if presented by a cross-examinable person, is valid
evidence.
>Sorry if this comes as a surprise, but it's that day already. Only
>"personally-presented" evidence (presented in conjunction with and in
>support of the testimony of cross-examinable witnesses -- I remind you
>again that evidence and witnesses are not the same thing) does count. If
>it isn't in support of testimony, it will not be admitted. It isn't just
>"evidence" because it's there, it has to be evidence OF something. It
>has to be evidence of something which has been asserted by a witness.
I believe I misunderstood your use of the word "witness" to mean a person
that actually saw the crime occur, rather than someone appearing in court,
and that led me to my previous line of reasoning.
I think it is reasonable to assume that law enforcement organizations will
provide a witness (in the form of an officer or technician) in cases in
which a person contests a photo radar ticket. Thus, all the same legal
avenues *are* available to the person contesting -- my original assertion.
S. Pierre Paret
Washington, D.C. "Through Reason, or By Force."
spierre@aol.com
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