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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    Default Video Evidence Inadmissable

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio

    Under what grounds could a defense attorney ask for CCTV video to be inadmissable in a criminal trial?

    My CCTV evidence is the basis for the trial and I'd like to be prepared to rebut an attempt to have the video excluded.

  2. #2
    panther10758 Guest

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    There is no way we could accurately answer that. This would depend on many factors

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    273

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    Understood - I'm not asking what would make MY video inadmissable.. I'm talking generalities.

    eg.

    - There have been cases where a video is ruled inadmissable because the person who made the video wasn't in court to testify as to it's authenticity. To counter this I'm attending all hearings to make sure I'm available to answer questions.

    - There have been cases where a video is ruled inadmissable because the prosecution could not account for the custody of the tape from the beginning, leaving open the possibility of manipulation.

    - There was a nanny baby-shaking case where the video was shot in such a low framerate that the 'action' was not 100% clear.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    9,096

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    I tell you what.

    You talk about your unwinnable case and video evidence.

    Why don't you tell us the story so that we can stop guessing and help you?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    The person who takes a photograph or video doesn't have to authenticate it. Authentication can occur through any witness competent to testify that the images depicted in the photograph or video accurately represent whatever it is that is at issue - such as the location of a tree relative to a stop sign. Your attorney can share the details of the rules of evidence for your state.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    273

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    Quote Quoting cyjeff
    View Post
    I tell you what.

    You talk about your unwinnable case and video evidence.

    Why don't you tell us the story so that we can stop guessing and help you?
    I accidentally cut someone off in traffic and our cars stopped side-by-side. It was a simple misunderstanding of who had right-of-way. He opened his door, yelled at me then pulled his door closed then slammed it into my fender causing a football-sized dent (~$1k bodyshop estimate). I have a dashcam in my car that recorded the entire incident.

    He acknowledged that his door hit my fender, but he says it was an accident and "although I tried to open the door carefully his car was just parked too close." The police saw the amount of damage and agreed that it was no accident - they arrested him, took him to jail, charged him with M3 Criminal Mischief and MM Disorderly Conduct, and cut him loose that night.

    I copied the video from the dashcam video recorder to a DVD and gave it to the police department (got a reciept for it) and they sent it to the prosecutor after defendant pleaded not guilty at arraignment. The prosecutor and I reviewed the video together in his office and he said that he was "almost giddy" because he "never gets evidence this good" and that the defendant had "no wiggle room". He indicated that no plea deal would be done - he will only accept guilty or trial.

    The video shows the guy's pickup rocking back/forth 3 times from the amount of force his put into the door slam, and my car rocked back/forth also. This counters any claim that he opened the door carefully.

    The video shows a 2 or 3 second delay between his door hitting my car and him actually getting out. This counters any claim that he was opening the door to simply get out of the vehicle - he stayed inside the vehicle at first.

    The video shows that within 30 second of him hitting my car with his door he gets in and out of his car again to grab something - and doing so without any trouble from the proximity of the cars.

    The video is in CIF mode, full frame rate with audio. The video covers all the way from me leaving my house, the incident itself, and up to the police arriving. The door swing is in shot, and the sound of the door impact is captured - as is his sarcastic "Well dang!" response to the door slam. It also shows the defendant in very close detail and continues to record until the police arrive - at which point the police dashcam (prosecutor has that too). He cannot claim it wasn't him.

    We have an image from a CCTV system within 1/4 mile of the incident showing that there was no pre-existing damage. He cannot argue the damage was already there.

    The video also has an interior camera that shows I never said anything to him, never yelled, screamed, swore , made finger gestures or anything - I just locked my door as he stormed around to my driver's door. In fact the video shows me shifting the reverse just beore the door slam (I coudn't drive forward, so backing up was the only way to remove myself from the situation - which the video shows I tried to do) I never contributed to the road rage, and the video shows that clearly.

    He is pleading not guilty and wants to go to trial, pro se, because he's insisting that not only was the door swing an accident, but that he's not responsible because I caused the driving incident that set off his road rage. He faces $500 max fine and 60 days max jail.

    Assuming the video is not ruled inadmissable, the only thing for the jury / judge to decide if the door swing is intentional or accidental. I'd love to post the video itself but I'm worried about his lawyer (if he's smart enough to get one) will argue the jury pool is tainted if the video is made public.


    And that, in a nutshell, is what happened. He has a pretrial conference in a couple weeks where he will see the video and decide if he wants to continue to trial. He has not yet filed discovery or a 'notice of appearance' from an attorney even though his arraignment was a month ago.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    Let the prosecutor worry about what is admissible.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    273

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    Quote Quoting cyjeff
    View Post
    I tell you what.

    You talk about your unwinnable case and video evidence.

    Why don't you tell us the story so that we can stop guessing and help you?
    Was there any more detail that you needed?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    563

    Default Re: Video Evidence Inadmissable

    It sounds good to me.

    do you drive a maxima?

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