“New Cell Phone Case Law”

The Ontario Court of Appeal released two decisions of note today regarding cell phone case law.

The first deals with the Crowns appeal of R v. Kazemi. Kazemi was an earlier case in which it was ruled that momentarily holding or moving a cell phone was not illegal. The Court of Appeal has disagreed, stating "Road safety is best ensured by a complete prohibition on having a cell phone in ones hand at all while driving."

The second deals with the Crowns appeal of R v. Pizzurro. Pizzuro successfully argued that the Crown couldnt show his cell phone was in working order at the time he was stopped. The Court of Appeal has disagreed that there is any such onus on the Crown, stating the functionality of the device need not be proven.

R v. Kazemi: http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2 ... CA0585.htm

R v. Pizzurro: http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2 ... CA0584.htm