I need some advice on a question regarding driving on a suspended licence:

Firstly I was stranded on a highway with a flat tire. While waiting for help, an officer arrived and charged me with Drive while Under Suspension.

I was notified months before that my licence was under suspension
for an unpaid fine.

I have my 2nd appearance in court coming up (my first was to aquire my disclosure)

My question is this: because I was not actual driving the vehicle and there are no witnesses to my operating the vehicle, does that give me enough grounds to plead Not Guilty and fight the charge?

Well "technically" a conviction would be a sure thing if you were driving. You'll have to come up with a reason how you and your car got on the side of the highway. So if you were driving, because you never clarified if you were or were not, its up to a JP to decide if your explanation is reasonable.

I'd say the odds of successfully beating your charge in court are about 1 in 1000.

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* The above is NOT legal advice. It is an opinion only. By acting on anything I have said, you assume full responsibility for any outcome and its consequences. *
http://www.OntarioTicket.com OR http://www.OHTA.ca OR http://www.OntarioTrafficAct.com

I would respectfully diagree with the chances of beating this allegation. If you were not driving the motor vehicle in question.....there is no case for the prosecution.

P.S. - Admissions or statements made by the defendant may change things.

Well clearly there is more to the story than what your telling us. Where did this other mythical person (who was driving the car) disappear to while you changed the tire and the Police rolled up?

I guess we'll have to see what the outcome is... If the case is handled professionally, the odds of winning would go up, although as you and cruzmisl have indicated, there's a few missing components to the story...

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* The above is NOT legal advice. It is an opinion only. By acting on anything I have said, you assume full responsibility for any outcome and its consequences. *
http://www.OntarioTicket.com OR http://www.OHTA.ca OR http://www.OntarioTrafficAct.com

Thank you all for your information/opinions. It did seem to me to like a bit of a long shot, but hey you never know!

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Knowing your rights is always the first step.

I have a question about proper procedure for this case.

I have my 2nd appearance coming up.

Now, the reason that my licence was suspended in the first place was for an unpaid fine. The fine was for a ticket for 'proof of insurance' which was given out as a T.T.P. I did take the T.T.P. ticket to the Police Reporting Centre and the Insurance card was produced and the ticket stamped.

Well I come to find out a year later that the Reporting Ctr. either lost their paperwork or some other error which caused the charge to be put through anyways. This is why I have not paid the fine.

Now in a phone conversation with the prosecutor, we resolved that she will reduce the charge considerably if I bring the stamped ticket and proof of re-instatement.

Unfortunately I have not yet found my copy (found every other ticket I've ever had) and probably won't by the time of my 2nd appearance in court.

My question is this:

When I appear, do I plead not guilty or do I ask for a later trial date to give me more time to find the ticket and take the reduced plea at that time? I'm not sure if pleading not guilty will procede to a later trial at which time I can take the plea bargain / reduced charge?
Any help / advice would be very much appreciated!

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Knowing your rights is always the first step.

The officer has to prove to the court that you were driving the car. If they cant prove that then the case will be dismissed.

If you hire a paralegal I think their is a good chance the case will be dropped, if you do it yourself I think you will have a problem because the prosecution will try to get you to testify, if you take the stand they are going to ask you "Were you driving the car?".

To which your evidence would convict you.

The penalty is 1000 dollar fine and 6 months further suspension.