Q: If a cop was standing on freeway shoulder, can he accurately use his lidar gun if two vehicles pass him by as it’s used?
I was pulled over on the freeway by a motorcycle patrolman. He was standing on the side of the freeway using his laser gun. I have on dash cam recording two vehicles passing him by as he supposedly caught me doing 75 in a 65 is there a reasonable doubt that he Could have been affected by the wind gusts created by the two cars passing him on the freeway? Also, the weather reported up to 16 mph gusts of wind at the time I was ticketed.
A: The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 2020 decision (Rodojev decision)that an expert is not required to be in court to testify about how laser speed detection units/guns work. The results of the speed laser detection unit on the speed of the motorist are admissible without the testimony of an expert witness on how the technology works. The decision means the trial court takes judicial notice of the scientific reliability of the laser detection unit. However, the laser detection unit results can be challenged by calling into question whether the instrument was properly calibrated prior to usage or whether there was proper maintenance of the laser unit. You can also challenge the angle at which the officer held the device and the officer’s qualifications to use it. Judges and jurors can make a determination as to the weight given to the officer’s testimony on proper calibration or maintenance of the unit in addition to these other factors in ruling on the guilt or innocence of the motorist.
Dimitrios Makridis agrees with this answer
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