Magistrate Tells Speeder He Should Study Law
Appearing in Magistrates Court today [Dec 17], a 55-year-old man mounted his own defense against a charge of speeding by challenging the accuracy of the police equipment, and while he was convicted, the Magistrate told him he made a “nice effort” and should consider studying law.
Mr Alvin Morgan, followed up on his plea of not guilty to speeding at 70 kph and challenged the accuracy of the Prolaser lll gun used by the Bermuda Police Service.
After a police officer had given the Crown’s evidence and stated that the gun had been tested before and after its use, and that it had recorded Mr Morgan’s speed as 70 kph, Mr Morgan cross-examined the police officer.
Working from internet research, Mr Morgan questioned the officer regarding the specific tests that had been used. The officer described a range test that confirmed the distance measuring function of the police unit used – the Prolaser lll – on the day in question. The officer said that all tests were according to the operator’s manual for the Prolaser lll.
Mr Morgan asked the officer if, to his knowledge, the police Prolaser lll was tested, at regular intervals, by other methods or by non-police technicians or by other tests as recommended in the operator’s manual.
Mr Morgan said that the manual indicated that the Prolaser lll was considered, by the manufacturer, to be accurate under all conditions but only to +/- 2 kph which meant that a recorded speed could be 2kph higher or 2kph lower.
Still under cross-examination by Mr Morgan, the officer said that in a typical case of a 50kph speed check, the Prolaser lll reading that he saw would show a vehicle moving towards him as +50kph; and that a vehicle moving away from him would show as -50kph. The Officer agreed that he had over decade of experience in this area of operations within the BPS.
A second police officer took the stand for the Crown and confirmed that he had stopped Mr Morgan and had informed him of his alleged violation and issued him the speeding ticket. Mr Morgan did not challenge that.
Mr Morgan spoke at length with Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo and showed the Magistrate several copies of printouts from the internet which explained how the Prolaser lll was used, checked, and regulated within UK police forces. The Magistrate did peruse the relevant documents.
Magistrate Tokunbo ruled that the police evidence was accepted, that Mr Morgan was speeding at 70kph, and fined Mr Morgan $500. The Magistrate informed Mr Morgan that he had made a “nice effort” and that he should consider studying law.
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