Hi

Is there anyone here familiar with the Hamilton traffic court? what about with Hamilton traffic court prosecutors? what are they like to deal with? are they negotiable with "Disobey stop sign - fail to stop" section 136(1)(a) type tickets? especially when its my word vs the officer's & no video & officer was probably on stop sign duty because he was in waiting on the side street

I contacted paralegal firms (POINTTS, XPOLICE, TRAFFICSTOP, WEJUSTWIN, TRAFFICTICKETPARALEGAL) and only POINTTS & XPOLICE actually sent me their contracts for me to look over...the other firms just told me to call them

do you think I should avoid firms that wont email me their contracts?

A win for me is non-HTA municipal by law ticket or dismissal (difficult as its my word vs policeman's) NOT a lowering of demerit points or lower charge like "Disobey sign" instead of disobey stop sign

thank you to everyone who helps me

AtomGirl wrote:A win for me is non-HTA municipal by law ticket

Not happening.

I would still call and talk to all those firms. The contract is irrelevent... what you want to know is how they might be able to defend the ticket for you. If they are just going to go in and hope the officer does not show up and/or just negotiate a quick plea deal and have no real defense for fighting the charge if it does go to trial, then you do not want that paralegal firm.

In ontario I am pretty sure you will NEVER see an HTA offense get dropped to a bylaw offence... I have never seen it happen or heard of it happening. Usually a plea deal, if offered, will just be a lesser HTA offence.

Again sir, you are wrong, it does happen...

Happens all the time in POA court. But then it is usually the people who will talk to the police and prosecutors who get deals.

OPS

I know all about "do not talk to police" story and I know jsherk is taking a lot of heat for his views on the subject, but....

In my own personal experience at Queen St. courthouse, talking to prosecution and or police officer was a painful experience, simply because they were strong arming me to take a plea deal and plead guilty. Being my first experience at court ever, I was very scared and could easily be intimated, it took a lot for me to stand my ground and ended up winning the case.

So, some times it's not a matter of not respecting the authorities, it is a matter of avoiding an uncomfortable situation that prevents people from talking to them.

Given that OP is looking for a reduced charge, he should not have any issues talking to prosecution, talking to the officer won't help him since the officer can not reduce the charge he already filed.

Observer135 wrote: Given that OP is looking for a reduced charge, he should not have any issues talking to prosecution, talking to the officer won't help him since the officer can not reduce the charge he already filed.

The OP doesn't want a reduced charge, she wants no charge, or a Non-HTA charge. Don't quote me on this, but I remember reading that some bylaw offenses affect insurance. Someone posted something about how a Disobey Sign under a bylaw offense has the same effect on insurance like an HTA offense just no points. I may be wrong, but someone here could elaborate more on this.

It depends on the courthouse. My main courthouse was Walkerton and often the Crown would ask me to speed to the driver and discuss options which I'd then bring back to him for the ultimate decision. One person's experience is not necessarily relevant to all.

UnluckyDuck wrote: Someone posted something about how a Disobey Sign under a bylaw offense has the same effect on insurance like an HTA offense just no points. I may be wrong, but someone here could elaborate more on this.

It's specifically the offence of making a prohibited turn. It can result in demerit points and a conviction on your record. Some people have reported though that the municipalities don't always follow through with the paperwork the MTO requires, so you can sometimes get lucky.