Video Evidence in Traffic Court

Smart phones and dash cams may produce video evidence to defend yourself with in traffic court. However, it's not a good plan to show up with your smartphone in hand and try to show that video to both the prosecution and the judicial justice while you explain your point. In fact, some judicial justices will refuse to allow you to enter evidence in this manner.

Retention of Video Evidence

Properly, the video evidence that you tender needs to be turned over to the court and held for 30 days until the appeal period for the case ends. Would you want to hand over your smart phone for 30 days or even longer than that if you choose to appeal the outcome?

File Format and Storage Device

The court registry that I contacted for advice suggested that you bring your video evidence to court on either a DVD or USB flash drive and that you save the file in a format compatible with the Windows operating system.

Audio Transcript

If you want the court to take note of conversation in the video evidence you will need to produce a transcript of it so that the justice can read it along with the audio.

Disclosure to Police

You may wish to disclose your video to the police prior to the trial. If the evidence shows that you are not guilty, the officer can withdraw the ticket prior to trial.

Playback in the Courtroom

Equipment availability varies from courtroom to courtroom. To insure that your video evidence is shown to your best advantage, you should contact the court registry at the location your trial will be held well ahead of time to prepare. They will be able to advise what is available to you and the best format to tender it in.

Learn More

• BC Court Registry Contact Information
• Case Law Example: Court Would Not Replay Video
• Advice From the Canadian Bar Association

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