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BARRHEAD - An Edmonton truck driver was fortunate to find himself on the winning of a traffic trial in Barrhead Court of Justice.
Justice Gregory Arnold Rice found Asif Mukhtar, who represented himself, not guilty of falsifying his driver's log under the Driver's Hour of Service Regulation in the Alberta Traffic Safety Act.
"You managed, somehow, by the luck of the day ... have been acquitted," he said.
Provincial traffic prosecutor R. Rees initially wanted to amend the charge to the lesser offence of not maintaining an accurate logbook in duplicate.
She noted that although charges carried the same specified penalty with no driver's demerits, they did include "carrier points," which go towards the employer.
"The original charge has three carrier points, while the amended charge only has two, so there is no detriment to the accused for the amendment," Rees said.
However, when Mukhtar said he would need time to consider what the new charge would mean for him, the Crown opted to proceed to trial on the initial charge.
Potential issue in administration of justice
However, before Mukhtar testified, there was a question about whether the trial could continue.
Before a witness testifies, the court asks them to declare that their testimony will be truthful by swearing on the Bible or another book of faith, such as the Quran, or through an affirmation statement.
Mukhtar asked for the Quran.
Unfortunately, the Barrhead Court of Justice did not have one.
Rees said that courts in larger centres, such as Fort Saskatchewan, have Qurans but have never seen them in rural circuit courts.
"They even have an eagle feather," Rees said, referring to the Fort Saskatchewan's Court of Justice.
Swearing the oath on an eagle feather has been available in several Alberta courts since 2019.
After an adjournment during which the court could not find a Quran, Rees asked for an adjournment, saying that the Alberta Prosecutor's office legal counsel stated one would be needed when the accused came up with a potential solution.
"I found a Quran on Google [through his cell phone]. Could that work?" Mukhtar asked.
Justice Rice replied that it should be, as long as it "bound his conscience" and is meaningful to the accused.
Mukhtar assured the court that it was.
Crown's case
County of Barrhead community peace officer Shae Guy testified that he was travelling east on Highway 18 in the 80 km/h zone when, in his rearview mirror, he noticed the accused's vehicle, a white Freightliner semi-truck, that "seemed to be closing on my patrol car quite quickly."
Guy then used his radar equipment and clocked the semi-truck going 102 km/h in the 80 km/h zone, conducting a traffic stop based on that.
As part of the stop, Mukhtar produced valid commercial operator documents, including a bill of weighting [or a load manifest] and a daily digital driver's log.
"Comparing the two, I noticed that the driver had multiple stops in Whitecourt and Edson that were not recorded in his daily log as required by provincial legislation," Guy said.
He added Mukhtar also admitted to making multiple stops that day.
"That is why I asked for the bill of weighting, to compare it to the daily log, because [his daily log] did not indicate that he had made any stops," Guy said.
He explained that according to provincial legislation, a driver must indicate stop locations in their daily log in real time if the travelling distance is more than 160 kilometres from their home terminal.
"When [Mukhtar] stopped in Edson, it put him at approximately 195 kilometres radius, which requires him to maintain a daily log in duplicate and update his change of duty status as he goes," Guy said.
As a result, he said, he then issued Mukhtar a ticket for falsifying his daily log.
Rees asked for clarification on when a driver whose route extended beyond the 160-kilometre radius must add their stops to their log.
"When the change is happening," Guy replied. "When they are loading and unloading, not at the end of the day or some other time. It occurs when the [change of duty status] was made."
Defence
Mukhtar testified that he started his deliveries at 4 a.m. from an Edmonton Loblaws and made his first delivery in Drayton Valley before proceeding to Edson and Whitecourt. He was on his way to Westlock when he stopped by Guy.
He added that the stops were not included in his daily driving log because it was not "certified."
"Before 'signing' the log book, I have to correct it as per [the load manifest] at the end of the day," Mukhtar said.
In her cross-examination, Rees asked Mukhtar multiple times if, as a commercial driver, he knew about the requirement to fill out his log book after each change in duty status when he travels more than 160 kilometres away from his base.
Mukhtar went on to reiterate that it was his regular practice to complete the log book at the end of his day before Justice Rice prompted him to answer Rees' question.
"Answer the question. It is easy, yes or no," he said.
"Yes," Mukhtar replied.
In her closing, Rees stated the accused knew about the requirement to complete his log book as he went along.
"Doing it after the fact is against the legislation," she said. "This log was produced to [Guy], and it did not contain information that it should have. I would argue that it is falsifying the log. This log would have gone forward if this officer had not stopped him. There is a reason why the stops need to be entered. It affects their hours of service."
The verdict
Justice Rice said that while Mukhtar may have been required to fill out his log book in real-time, the Crown did not prove that he falsified it.
"The charge is really the other one, and I understand why you wanted to amend it," he said. "You made the case for it, and he admitted it. He did not falsify [information]. What he did was not enter the data required. "
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
