Hey, thanks for a detailed overview! I just got myself into the same situation and was just curious to see by how much your insurance premiums went up?

I'll give you one of those (not to hijack the thread).

Defendant was over and ticketed at 30-ish over. No reduction on the ticket. (this was about a year and 8 months ago probably).

Officer's notes were accurate and detailed, very standard. Went to trial, defendant was not offered a deal due to driving record. Upon trial, officer neglected to establish concrete that a motor vehicle was involved, neglected to mention license plate, colour and type of vehicle... basically skipped that whole section of his notes.

The officer did focus very carefully on how his radar was tested and re-tested and the specifics of visually estimating the speed and verifying it with radar, etc. etc.

Upon cross-exam, no questions were asked about the vehicle, disallowing the officer to correct his mistake. Instead cross-exam was focused on "how the radar works" and "when it was last calibrated".

Motion made for non-suit based on fact that the crown failed to establish more than simply circumstantial evidence of a motor vehicle being involved, which is a key component in establishing guilt.

Motion sustained. Charges withdrawn. Looks of utter surprise from the Crown, JP and Officer.

In this example, the officer made a simple mistake, which all of us are prone to do at some point or other. There was no worthwhile deal offered, so the worst that could happen was that the defendant would end up with what they were ticketed for. Might as well go see what happens, and keep an eye on what's being said and what isn't being said on examination-in-chief. Sometimes you get lucky.

_________________
SLYK
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"Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny." - Edmund Burke"

"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal" - MLK Jr.

Cool, but why would the JP be surprised? Isn't the JP the one making that decision?

Sure, but they're not really used to seeing people successfully defending themselves... The same way the officer doesn't realize he's missed something, the JP and crown often don't realize it either until someone points it out. I'm pretty sure in this case the JP was ready to find against the accused, until he brought the court's attention to that issue.

_________________
SLYK
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"Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny." - Edmund Burke"

"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal" - MLK Jr.

Speeding Ticket trials are won on the legal technicalities.

Like the above post, the officer has to prove that the offense was committed with a "Motor Vehicle".

If you don't know the legal technicalities then you miss many opportunities to win your case.

Here are a few of the legal technicalities to win speeding tickets

Has the case taken too long to come to court? - 11b Argument
Is the ticket correct on its face? - Motion to Quash
Was the radar "properly tested"? - There are rules that the officer has to follow
Is the officer properly qualified? - Motion for non-suit
Has the ticket been properly filed at the court? - Motion to Quash