New trial ordered after ‘miscarriage of justice’ in Vancouver electric skateboard case

This photo shows a man riding an electric skateboard. (Credit: Shutterstock)

A B.C. court official who had twice been struck and seriously injured by skateboarders should have revealed that information before presiding over a case in traffic court, a judge has ruled.

Last year, Michael Justin Advincula was riding an electric one-wheeled skateboard on a downtown Vancouver road when he was stopped by a police officer who issued him a ticket for operating a motor vehicle without insurance, the court heard.

Advincula challenged the ticket but was convicted and ordered to pay a $568 fine, which he appealed alleging, among other things, “bias or a reasonable perception of bias” on the part of the judicial justice who oversaw the brief trial, a B.C. Supreme Court decision published online last week said.

The judicial justice, who is not named, was assigned a case six months before Advincula’s involving a woman ticketed for riding an electric unicycle. At the outset, he informed the court he had been struck twice by skateboarders riding on the sidewalk – suffering a concussion in the first instance and broken bones that left him “bedridden for months” in the second.

The judicial justice told the unicycle rider “I have a bias and it’s not good for you,” “you may not want me to try your matter,” and finally recused himself by saying “I cannot hear your case,” according to the decision.

The officer who ticketed the unicyclist was the same one who ticketed Advincula, the court heard.

“Const. Kim appreciated the close parallels between that matter and the trial that was about to commence. He knew that six months earlier, the judicial justice had expressed strong views and recused himself on bias grounds,” the decision said.

“Const. Kim raised this potential bias issue with the judicial justice. It was fair and proper that he did so.”

On appeal, the court found the judicial justice ought to have provided Advincula with more information about the issue raised by the officer, which would have opened the door for him to argue for a recusal.

“The trial was procedurally unfair to a fundamental degree. I am satisfied there was a miscarriage of justice,” the B.C. Supreme Court judge concluded, overturning the conviction and ordering a new trial.

Currently, using electric skateboards or electric unicycles on public roads or sidewalks in British Columbia is illegal.