I was ticketed for failing to stop at a stop sign (110- 3 points). I acknowledged to the office that I had likely not come to a full stop. He commended my honesty, but gave me the ticket anyway and recommended I pick option 3 and he would speak on my behalf in court to see if the points or fine could be reduced (although he could not guarantee anything).

So...I had to pick the not guilty option on the ticket to get a court date, but what do I do in court? Plead not guilty, or guilty with an explanation?

Also, do I need to enter a plea before I find out whether the officer showed up?

Any assistance on the steps in the process would be appreciated as would anyone who has every been in similar circumstances.

GRF

Always pick option 3 - you have a right to a trial, even if you are guilty. Pleading guilty with an explanation is just a waste of your time unless you can demonstrate extreme financial hardship, which may lower the fine but your insurance premium will still increase.

Once the ticket has been filed, it is no longer up to the police officer. The prosecutor will see in the officer's notes that you confessed to running the stop sign and as a result will not likely offer you a deal; if your case goes to trial you will most certainly lose. I don't believe there is any standard procedure for when the officer doesn't show - they may try to offer you a deal in this case or they may seek an adjournment. They may or may not tell you if the officer is not there. When you arrive for trial, keep an eye out for the ticketing officer.

When you receive your court date, book the first attendance meeting and see what they offer you (and of course, request disclosure right away). If they place a much more lucrative deal on the table when your trial date arrives, it may be an indicator that the officer didn't make it in that day.

Your best bet however is to hope for missing/incomplete disclosure and for the trial to be pushed 11+ months past the offense so you can file for an 11B.

ok...first lesson...say nothing in future and take the ticket

What is an "attendance meeting" and asking for disclosure?

It may be too late for it this time as my court date is early this coming week. Can I do this the day of the court date?

The court date was within 6 months of the offence so the 11B is not an option.

GRF wrote:

ok...first lesson...say nothing in future and take the ticket

What is an "attendance meeting" and asking for disclosure?

It may be too late for it this time as my court date is early this coming week. Can I do this the day of the court date?

The court date was within 6 months of the offence so the 11B is not an option.

first attendance: scheduled meeting with the prosecutor (crown attorney) before your trial, there you will be offered plea deals; crown will normally offer alternative HTA charges which carry reduced points/fines, if you plead guilty

disclosure: is the officer's notes, witness statements or any other piece of information the crown/officer will use to land the guilty conviction

however, i believe you are too late for both! First Attendance requires you to go back to the court-office where you filed the tickets, and they usually give it to you in a month's time; the crown requires atleast 8 weeks to get you disclosure

you can still request for disclosure, if the officer is present you will get the disclosure at your court date

however the new court date (adjournment) will be attributed to you, so the 11b clock stops

i wouldn't plea guilty and take any deals, until the disclosure is reviewed

Thank you for your advice and time

I should have done more research when I first got the ticket- As you can tell, I am not experienced at all with the process.

So at this point I guess my best options are

1. Check in with the Prosecutor and see if the officer is present (if not, I understand they will withdraw the charge)

2. If officer is present, see if the Prosecutor will offer any plea bargain deal (may or may not considering my history of only one speeding ticket 15 years ago - no points on that one, so I just paid it)

3. if not, note that I was not aware of right to disclosure, ask for disclosure right, which (if I understand you correctly) would lead to a rescheduling of the trial date to provide time for the disclosure process.

Is this correct?

Regards

GRF

One last question

for the plea bargain...if they were willing to drop it to a municipal ticket with no points, would that impact on my insurance? if not, I would be happy to pay the fine. The points are what concern me.