Ontario teen 158 km/h OVER the limit beats charges

[urban.one]

October 21, 2009

Teen 158 km/h over the limit beats charges

By TRACY MCLAUGHLIN, SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA


WASAGA BEACH, Ont. -- The teenaged son of a retired police officer who was charged with speeding at 239 km/h let out a big sigh of relief yesterday after he beat the rap.

Corey Graves, now 17, was clocked by a radar at 158 km/h over the speed limit while driving his father's black 2000 Lincoln LLS at around 2 a.m on May 18, 2008.

But in court, Justice of the Peace James Oates said he could not rely on the "inadequate" notes of the arresting police officer and dismissed the charges. He found Graves guilty of the lesser charge of failing to surrender his licence and fined him $85.

"Let me make it clear that I'm not questioning the officer's credibility at all," said Oates. "But there were numerous instances where there were lack of notes -- especially whether or not he lost sight of the vehicle."

Huronia West OPP officer Ian Black said he saw the vehicle whiz by on Hwy. 26, just north of Barrie. He said the radar showed a reading of 239 km/h for three seconds. Black said the driver of the vehicle hit the brakes, turned on to a road in Midhurst, fish-tailed and made another turn on to another street.

The officer made a U-turn and went after the vehicle with lights and siren blaring and caught up with the car 2-4 km away.

But the teen's defence team of Barrie lawyer Karen Jokinen and retired York Police officer Randy Porter, who now runs Traffic Ticket Expert in Barrie, pointed out the officer's notes did not show he must have lost sight of the vehicle at least for a split second on three occasions: once when he made the U-turn; once when the vehicle went into a dip on the road; and once when it turned on a blind curve.

Outside of court, the teen smiled as he left with his father. "Police officers need to take accurate notes," said Jokinen, outside of court. "That's the bottom line."

Huronia West OPP spokeman Const. Mark Kinney said he wasn't disappointed.

"At the end of the day, we brought the driver home safely and no one was killed that night," he said. "We put a lot of officers on our roads on those long weekends and our concern is that no one gets hurt ... The courts have their own job to do and it's a tough one."

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

God damn that kid should not have beat that.

[Xtrema]

Yeah, that's BS. Blue backing blue.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Yeah, that's BS. Blue backing blue.

:werd: Protect one of your own! :devil:

[beyond_ban]

I have gotten in more trouble for flicking my brights to warn of a speed trap before. Fucking BS.

[arian_ma]

Meh, 2 AM, country roads...I agree it's not the smartest but we've all been there.

[RickDaTuner]

not to brag at all but I was once caught doing 236 on highway 1 about 3-4 years ago, Cop was super nice gave me a pink ticket and let me go. when the court day came the judge and CP took a look at my driving record, which was clean at the time and knocked my fine down to 150 bucks, no questions, no lengthy lectures nothing. I walked out of there feeling like I had won the Lottery!

in retrospect that was a really really dumb thing to do.

[Mibz]

What does losing sight of the car have to do with it? Are they saying that if you blow by a cop, too fast for him to read your plate, and he loses sight of you that there's no way for him to prove that it was you speeding?

Shit, I can outrun cops for the 30 seconds it takes for them to lose sight of me.

[RickDaTuner]

Originally posted by Mibz
What does losing sight of the car have to do with it? Are they saying that if you blow by a cop, too fast for him to read your plate, and he loses sight of you that there's no way for him to prove that it was you speeding?

Shit, I can outrun cops for the 30 seconds it takes for them to lose sight of me.

it matters because your car is not the only make and model out there. there could be the slight chance that there was another car, same year make and color traveling down the same road.

[snoop101]

Originally posted by arian_ma
Meh, 2 AM, country roads...I agree it's not the smartest but we've all been there.

:werd:

3 am trips to the coast from the Okanagan doing 200km+ the whole way. Ahhh the good ol days.

[mr2mike]

The problems I have with this is he's 16yrs old... very inexperienced and that by the sound of it, his father helped bail him out!! If it was my parents they would have made me plead guilty and face the wrap. As legal guardians at that age, the kids parents could do the same. It teaches him that he can get away with things.
Why couldn't they crack the law book out and charge him with dangerous driving or something more? At that speed the only thing he's going to do is kill someone or himself.

You would think that with a large speed like this, the officer would make damn certain his case is tight.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Mibz
What does losing sight of the car have to do with it? Are they saying that if you blow by a cop, too fast for him to read your plate, and he loses sight of you that there's no way for him to prove that it was you speeding?

Shit, I can outrun cops for the 30 seconds it takes for them to lose sight of me.
Could have been a different vehicle, they have to know that it was you without a doubt.

[Jason Lange]

Never really thought that would have been a valid defense. I suppose if the officer would have seen the license plate and recorded it then it wouldn't have mattered if he lost sight of the vehicle. Lucky kid.

[dexlargo]

If that's really the basis for the charge being dismissed, I hope that the crown appeals that decision.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner
it matters because your car is not the only make and model out there. there could be the slight chance that there was another car, same year make and color traveling down the same road.
Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Could have been a different vehicle, they have to know that it was you without a doubt. Understood.

Alright ricers, the lesson here is LEAVE YOUR EXTERIOR STOCK. Then when you get busted by laser you RUN LIKE FUCK until they can't see you. Then pull over and mark your court date in your calendar.

[kenny]

Originally posted by Mibz
What does losing sight of the car have to do with it?

Blue Minivan #1 speeds by officer, officer u-turns and loses sight of minivan because of blind curve, dip in road, or not facing the right direction. 2-4km later officer finds Blue Minivan #2 travelling on the same and pulls them over for speeding.

[Barlow]

no shit,

The kid got off, good on him, who cares.

No one died, no one got hurt, no harm no foul....

move on.

[ipeefreely]

Originally posted by Barlow
no shit,

The kid got off, good on him, who cares.

No one died, no one got hurt, no harm no foul....

move on.

:facepalm: :thumbsdow

Till he does it again (and he will) and cuts a minivan in two.... thanks judge! :banghead: :nut:

[Eken9]

Originally posted by ipeefreely


:facepalm: :thumbsdow

Till he does it again (and he will) and cuts a minivan in two.... thanks judge! :banghead: :nut:

Hey! I can now drive drunk as long as no one dies and no one gets hurt, no harm no foul:D :nut:

[se7en]

heh...the law is the law.

if they lose sight of you....

how would you like it if some ass wipe cop pulled you over right after a similar car wizzed by you on the highway at like 250kms per hour?

whateva. We all have sped at least once in our lives...and if you haven't, then you don't belong on a car enthusiast forum....unless that is you are under cover lol.

I wish I was cut a break when I was young...I always had to pay in full every rule I ever broke....unlucky and/or dumb kid I was.

[Sharpie]

Originally posted by Barlow
no shit,

The kid got off, good on him, who cares.

No one died, no one got hurt, no harm no foul....

move on.
:werd:

[rinny]

Losing sight of a vehicle (especially in the dark at night) is a huge grounds of reasonable doubt that can be thrown into a case.

Out in Cochrane court a few weeks ago a fellow was tagged a bit over 50km/h on Highway 1 at night. He went over a hill, officer temporarily lost sight of the vehicle, plus it was nighttime and other vehicles had passed the officer.

All this led to a squashed ticket as it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer pulled over the correct car.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[HondaKid]

Real shame daddy saved his bacon, his dad is as much a dick as the son. Apple falls not far from the tree and all that.

I know my dad would not have allowed me to fight the ticket, do the crime pay the fine. A little heads up, the kid wants to be a police officer on day and this would be a mark on the application.... just my guess.

[rx7boi]

The sheer absurdity of this story makes me lol.

[superboss]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Yeah, that's BS. Blue backing blue.
Fuck I agree,,

[Mys73ri0]

Originally posted by arian_ma
Meh, 2 AM, country roads...I agree it's not the smartest but we've all been there.
No sorry, we all haven't been there. I don't think everyone has taken their car up to 236 km/h.

There's a difference between doing 130 km/h on the highway and 236 km/h


Look at what the kid said "Outside of court, the teen smiled as he left with his father. "Police officers need to take accurate notes," said Jokinen, outside of court. "That's the bottom line." Tell me he isn't guilty.

[szw]

Originally posted by Jason Lange
Never really thought that would have been a valid defense. I suppose if the officer would have seen the license plate and recorded it then it wouldn't have mattered if he lost sight of the vehicle. Lucky kid.

Its not that easy to read a licence plate even if you are following behind them chasing them, and pretty much impossible if you're talking about a drive-by at high speed.

[GQNammer]

So pretty much if you're going to speed, make sure you're going so fast that even if you get clocked with a radar, you're going fast enough that you'll be 1 km down the road, make a turn, and lose sight of the officer.

Thanks for the heads up:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Criticull]

This increases the chances of this kid going out and splitting a minivan in half.