California Court of Appeal

In this case, defendant received a citation by mail for a violation of Vehicle Code section 21453(a) for failing to stop at a red light, based on a photograph taken pursuant to the Automated Traffic Enforcement System. At trial, the court overruled in limine objections to the admission of the photographic evidence on foundational grounds. Judgment finding defendant guilty of the offense is reversed, where: 1) defendant produced expert testimony and evidence that the printed representation of computer generated information (Evidence Code section 1552) and the video or digital images (section 1553) were inaccurate and unreliable, and thus the question of guilt should have been determined without the photographic evidence; 2) without the photographic evidence, there was no reliable evidence of a violation of Vehicle Code section 21453(a); and 3) remand for retrial is not a viable option given that the inadmissible evidence is the sole evidence of guilt.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/08/2015
• Published 01/08/2015

Judges

• Ramirez

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel