Vyrkin v. Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority
- Stewart Aaron
- 1:18-cv-12106
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Vyrkin v. Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority, Judge Aaron accepted reviewed trial exhibits and postponed ruling on a surveillance video.
Vladimir Vyrkin and Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority, the parties preparing for the upcoming bench trial.
What happened
In Vyrkin v. Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority, the court addressed which documents and other materials could be used at the upcoming bench trial. It accepted the parties’ proposed exhibits that it had reviewed.
The accepted exhibits included arrest records, activity logs, a vehicle log, criminal-court transcripts and summonses, deposition testimony, photographs, and related tracking forms. The court had not yet received the surveillance video, so it postponed deciding whether that video could be admitted. The order does not decide the underlying claims.
Judge Stewart D. Aaron explained that, in a bench trial, it is generally more practical to admit materials whose admissibility is uncertain and later decide how much weight to give them. The order states that the court would later rule on the surveillance video.
The detailed version
- Vyrkin v. Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority · No. 1:18-cv-12106
- Stewart Aaron
- May 27, 2021
Background
The court reviewed the parties’ proposed trial exhibits and their objections before an upcoming bench trial. The opinion identifies the plaintiff as Vladimir Vyrkin and the defendant as Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority, et al. It does not describe the underlying claims.
Ruling on Exhibits
The court ordered that the parties’ proposed exhibits it had reviewed would be accepted into evidence. The listed exhibits included:
- The Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority arrest report; - Daily-activity-log excerpts for officers Cabrera and Ellis; - The authority’s arrest-process tracking form; - A transcript of the criminal-court proceedings in the matter identified as People of the State of New York vs. Vladimir Vyrkin; - The transcript of Officer Edwin Cabrera’s deposition; - Photographs; - Criminal-court summonses; and - The Triboro Bridge & Tunnel Authority vehicle log.
The court had not yet received the surveillance video, identified as Defendant Exhibit C. It therefore stated that it would rule on that video’s admissibility later.
Reasoning and Effect
The court relied on the principle that, during a bench trial—a trial decided by a judge rather than a jury—it is often more practical to admit evidence whose admissibility is uncertain and later decide what weight, if any, to give it. This order addresses trial evidence only; it does not decide the merits of the parties’ dispute.
Disposition
Judge Stewart D. Aaron accepted the reviewed proposed exhibits into evidence and deferred ruling on the surveillance video.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.