Judge blames Crown as B.C. truck driver has ticket thrown out | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Judge blames Crown as B.C. truck driver has ticket thrown out

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A B.C. commercial truck driver has had his ticket thrown out after a judge ruled he'd waited too long for the case to get to court.

According to a recent B.C. Provincial Court decision, Bahadur Singh Baryar got a ticket Jan. 27, 2019, because of braking issues.

Baryar filed a dispute over the ticket, but then a waiting game began.

Thirteen months after the ticket was issued, Baryar had his day at the Kamloops courthouse but his lawyer's request for disclosure from the provincial commercial trucking authority hadn't been received.

The trial was adjourned with a notation of "Crown’s fault" on the paperwork.

Then the pandemic started.

The trial was pushed to July 2020 but was then further delayed and set for November, and the schedule included some discrepancies, much to the judge's annoyance.

"I have nothing before me to explain this discrepancy. The court should not be left guessing what might have happened along the course of proceedings. The record is supposed to be before the court in the form of court documents and transcripts. Discrepancies ought to be explained, or at least attempted," Judge Stella Frame said in the decision.

Baryar then argued his Charter rights had been breached as the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled cases must come to trial within 18 months, although delays because of COVID may be exempt from this.

However, the judge found regardless of COVID delays Baryar had waited 17 months and 22 days.

"This is a delay that falls entirely at the feet of the Crown," the judge said. "It need not have taken so long."

The Judge also highlighted the stress caused to Baryar as extra points on his licence could have resulted in him losing his job.

"I cannot say that 17 months and 22 days is unreasonable for a traffic ticket to get to trial in all cases. It was in this case," the judge said.

With that, the case was thrown out.


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