Frame by Frame Analysis and the Use of Spotlighting Accepted in Murder Prosecution
In R. v. Ahmed, 2021 ONSC 2141 (Ontario Superior Court of Justice), the defendant was charged with murder arising out of a shooting in an Ottawa nightclub. He admitted shooting the deceased but claimed that he acted in self defence and lacked the necessary intent for murder. Presentation and expert analysis of the video obtained...
Defence Challenges Motion Tracking by Forensic Video Analyst: Too Helpful Perhaps?
The quintessential role of the expert witness in the courtroom is assistive by design. Expert witnesses are only permitted to testify if they possess scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge that exceeds that of the lay person and only if their knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or...
Legal Considerations and Recommendations for the Use of Terrestrial LiDAR Scanning for Criminal Justice Applications
Jonathan W. Hak, Q.C., Dipl., B.Sc., LL.B., LL.M., PhD Candidate[i] Introduction Accurate and detailed depictions of crime scenes, areas of interest, and objects provide investigators, counsel, and the court with data necessary to more fulsomely comprehend available evidence and to understand what occurred.[ii] Scene measurements, including the location of objects and features within the...
California Court of Appeal Rules Upon the Propriety of Forensic Video Analysis Techniques Utilized by Expert
The California Court of Appeal recently had occasion to review certain forensic video analysis techniques employed by a forensic expert for the purpose of determining whether they were properly admitted at trial and additionally whether they constituted novel science, thus requiring a Kelly-Frye hearing. In People v. Tran, 2020 WL 3056213, the state presented evidence from...