- You shouldn’t have to wait this long for justice, no matter how small the infraction.
A lot of things happened in 2007. Apple changed the tech landscape with the first iPhone, Netflix started streaming movies, the Harry Potter book series wrapped up…
And Neville Greene received a traffic ticket for running a red light.
But the Canadian man didn’t feel he deserved to be fined. He appealed the ticket and has been waiting for a response ever since.
For nearly 20 years, Greene has sent regular requests for updates on the status of his appeal. Yet, the case seemingly never went anywhere, sitting in the courts’ systems without ever getting picked up.
Now, his fight for justice is finally over. Recently, a judge finally decided to hear Greene’s appeal after 18 years.
He won. His by now ancient traffic violation has been struck down, as the judge found Greene did not get the legal support he was entitled to in order to effectively argue his case.
Word Against Word
Greene’s traffic ticket fight began in June 2007. According to court records from the time, Greene was charged with running a red light in Toronto.
He, however, felt the ticket was unwarranted. He pleaded not guilty and attempted to get the ticket overturned in court.
At the time, a police constable testified Greene turned into an intersection in Toronto after the traffic light on his lane had already turned red. A clear-cut case, in his words.
Greene disputed this view. He argued that construction at the intersection had impeded the regular flow of traffic.
Perhaps he had proceeded through the light after it had gone red. However, for the safety of all road users at the site, he had no option, Greene argued.
The cops countered by saying that there was no construction at the intersection on the day. It was word against word, but Greene had an ace up his sleeve.
He had photos.
‘This Isn’t Law & Order’
Greene had returned to the intersection the day after getting his ticket. In preparation for arguing his case, he had taken several photographs of the road.
The pictures indeed showed that there was construction going on at the site. Well, that should clearly decide the case in Greene’s favor, right?
Not so. In fact, the judge at the time was blatantly dismissive of the photos.
“This isn’t Law & Order,” they were recorded as sneering at Greene.
According to the judge, the photographs weren’t acceptable as evidence as they were taken the day after the violation. Additionally, Greene hadn’t had the photos notarized, so they were worth nothing.
Case closed. Greene was slapped with a red light violation, which not only came with a fine of a couple of hundred dollars but also with demerit points on his license.
A Long Wait
The verdict didn’t sit right with Greene. His valid evidence had been improperly dismissed and he knew it, so Greene appealed.
Then he waited. And waited. And waited.
He would wind up waiting for the next 19 years. For some reason, his appeal never progressed any further from being marked as “received.”
That wasn’t because Greene was ignoring his appeal, either. He submitted all the paperwork on time and regularly followed up on the appeal but to no avail.
Wrongfully Convicted
Finally, in May 2026, a small miracle happened. Justice Brock Jones picked up Greene’s long-overdue appeal.
Justice Jones wasn’t happy with what he saw.
First of all, in his ruling, he made it very clear that the case should’ve been heard a long, long time ago. As to why it wasn’t, he stated that he received no explanation.
“It was not explained to me why it took nearly 18 years for the appeal to be heard, other than that the paperwork may have been ‘lost’ for a long time,” the judge said in his ruling.
Furthermore, he admitted that Greene’s traffic hearing from nearly 20 years ago had not been handled appropriately. According to Justice Jones, the judge overseeing the previous trial did not “provide him with sufficient assistance as a self-represented person.”
Finally, Jones decreed that the reasons for Greene’s conviction “were insufficient and do not explain why Mr. Greene’s evidence was rejected.” He confirmed that photo evidence does not need to be notarized when the pictures’ accuracy can be verified by a live witness – which was the case at Greene’s trial.
Long story short, Greene had been wrongfully convicted. With that, Jones overturned the previous verdict, bringing Greene’s 19-year battle to an end.
Score one for the little guy.