Briefly, I was involved in a two-vehicle collsion where I struck another vehicle while making a left turn at a signalled intersection. The officer charged me with "turn not in safety" contrary to 142(1) of the HTA (that's what was written on the offence notice). I requested a trial and when the notice of trial date arrived, it says I've been charged under 142(2), which is "start from parked position, not in safety". Similar charges for sure, but with their differences. I don't know how the change came about. I'm waiting on disclosure. When my court date approaches, my working theory right now is that I'll claim I was unable to properly prepare my defence as I was uncertain what I was actually charged with. Any comments on that idea? Other suggestions? Thanks!!

Denise wrote:

When my court date approaches, my working theory right now is that I'll claim I was unable to properly prepare my defence as I was uncertain what I was actually charged with.

That defence won't work since the notice of trial isn't considered an official charging document. The ticket, or certificate of offence, is the official document that lists the correct charge. If the Crown did want to change what you were charged with, they would have to withdraw the original one in Court, then serve you with a summons for the new offence. Clerks type out hundreds of trial notices, and it's not uncommon to see a wrong name or charge section/wording on them from time to time.

The only time you could argue you couldn't prepare a proper defence would be when the ticket itself had the wrong charge/section or you failed to receive disclosure.