What is the test for relying on a template used by a police officer at trial for evidence in a speeding case?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from R. v. Law, 2013 ONCJ 533 (CanLII):

[91] It should be noted that in reaching my conclusions, I have followed the reasoning of Madam Justice Woolcott in Regina v. Persaud, supra, which I have found to be persuasive. As the jurist noted, the investigating officer testified at trial using notes prepared on a template to refresh his memory of the relevant events. While the description of the contents of the notes stated in the case was imprecise, it would appear that the template set out a number of pre-printed assertions normally related to the offence of speeding and that the investigating police officer simply filled in the particulars of the investigation related to each individual case in the variable fields of the template. As stated above, the said appellate justice found that even though the police officer testified with the use of a template which contained a record of not only what the officer observed at the relevant time but also a number of pre-printed statements outlining the essential aspects of the offence of speeding, to refresh his existing memory of the events, she nevertheless upheld the decision of the trial Justice of the Peace finding that the Justice’s decision to rely on the police officer’s evidence in the circumstances, was acceptable.

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