A MMA fighter who was believed to be injured in an accident in Vancouver was able to successfully argue to have a trial reopened after his testimony was dismissed as insufficient.
A 45-year old Garett Davis was riding his bike on a road in Vancouver at the time he came in collision with a vehicle driver Navaratnaraja Jeyaratnam. The MMA fighter claimed Jeyaratnam was at fault for the crash, but Jeyaratnam claimed Davis was the one to blame.
To clarify the different versions of events attributed to the two parties, Davis decided to have the witness Abide Isse questioned as evidence. Interviews were carried out by Ian Carter, but the audio recording of the interview was deleted, and only the handwritten notes could be found to be used during court.
As per the information provided by Canadian Lawyer, Davis elected to go with the notes of the conversation as evidence, instead of presenting witnesses in person.
New Trial Ordered
The MMA fighter’s decision to offer notes from the interview as evidence, rather than as the actual testimony of a witness immediately drew doubt from the court. In a review of Isse’s testimony Judge Davis’ story of the events and declared him to be the sole responsible party in the crash.
The outcome prompted an appeal by Davis for the reason that the judge’s attention was on the efforts of Carter to record the exchange, but did not examine the details of the interview.
The British Columbia Court Of Appeal then re-examined the case and determined that the efforts to track down Isse to appear in the court were unsuccessful due to his departure from the country. The transcript of the conversation had to be regarded as reliable however, the court admitted that Carter may have been at fault in loosing the tape.
The court ultimately concluded that the judge at the initial trial did failed to properly evaluated the evidence provided in the case of an MMA fighter, and decided the need for a fresh trial required.
Davis is an experienced fighter who has participated in more than thirty professional MMA fights. Since his debut in 2002, Davis had his greatest period of winning in a seven-fight winning streak between 2005 and 2006. “One-Two” was last seen in 2013, after he had his injured in just 6 seconds of an encounter with Elmer Waterhen at KOTC: Monster Smash.
What are your thoughts about Davis’s success in a plea for an appeal to reopen his trial following alleged being hit on his bike