Observations from Early Resolution

Hello,

Braved the storm to appear in court this morning for an Early Resolution appointment. Thought I would share some observations for those interested.

-There were several people with the same meeting time and date

-Arrived early and observed the defendants from the earlier appointment finish up as everything was held in open court room; no smaller meeting space, very limited opportunity for discussion with prosecutor

-Everyone was offered a plea deal, except a few people who were charged under the hand held devise laws, prosecutor said there was nothing he could amend that to. They were offered a reduced fine however, by the prosecutor and the JP welcomed them to indicate if they needed it further reduced, and asked them why

-JP took a recess just before our time, and after his departure from the bench, the prosecutor welcomed those who came in for the next appointment to line up and approach him one by one as he sat at one of the tables at the front of the bench in the court room

-Prosecutor asked who defendants were as they approached, obtained whatever related paperwork he had, and offered an alternate plea, or reduced charge to each person; these were all very short exchanges, no one successfully received an alternate offer to the one initially given. There was one person, not sure what the charge was, he was the only one who was asked what happened. The man answered and the prosecutor said there was no charge he could amend to, and suggested he proceed to trial, which he did

-We approached, as I was with my daughter who was charged. He asked who I was and took longer looking over the file (careless charge). Made a plea offer, was unreceptive to negotiation, or discussion to any alternative. I asked if she decided at a later time that she was interested in accepting the deal, was there a way she could get it, he told her to go to trial, and seek the deal before trial begins on the day set. Allowed us time to leave the court room and discuss options. My daughter returned to let him know she would not accept the offer, he made a note of the offer on the file and told her although no one else was obligated to offer her the same deal later, as it may not be the same prosecutor on trial date (read between the lines as he stressed he was writing it down that the same offer would likely be made)

-Went back into court room and let him know she would like to go to trial, he stressed again that he noted the deal offered on the file. He told us not to hang around, he would let the JP know that a resolution was not obtained

-For those entering guilty pleas to amended charges, or guilty to the original charge, the JP was very direct in a friendly manner, letting them know that he needed to know what they plead and that they understood what they were pleading to, he did not entertain any explanation no matter how bad the defendants wanted to

What were you offered?

Now that it's going to trial, the other driver will be subpoenaed to present evidence for the crown; if they fail to appear, the charges will most likely get dropped.

Follow up:

Trial date was set for end of June, and then a motion to adjourn was submitted as the other driver was unwilling to attend on the trial date. Rather than face additional delays, attended court on the morning the motion was to be heard, and plea bargained with prosecutor. Agreed on a 2 point offence, failure to turn out left... I think. Prosecutor would not lower the fine of $85 (or so, plus victim surcharge, $110) but let us know that there would be no opposition if the justice was willing to rule for it. Justice ruled in favour of a suspended sentence and no fine, and prosecutor offered no opposition.

Happy that it is settled, and will handle the situation very differently if it were to ever happen again; starting with politely offering only the required identification, insurance and ownership to an officer, and nothing more. I will have no insight to provide to any questions asked.

interesting, see my thread

in TO there is a private cubicle in which you can talk to the prosecutor

287 wrote:

Hello,

Braved the storm to appear in court this morning for an Early Resolution appointment. Thought I would share some observations for those interested.

-There were several people with the same meeting time and date

-Arrived early and observed the defendants from the earlier appointment finish up as everything was held in open court room; no smaller meeting space, very limited opportunity for discussion with prosecutor

-Everyone was offered a plea deal, except a few people who were charged under the hand held devise laws, prosecutor said there was nothing he could amend that to. They were offered a reduced fine however, by the prosecutor and the JP welcomed them to indicate if they needed it further reduced, and asked them why

-JP took a recess just before our time, and after his departure from the bench, the prosecutor welcomed those who came in for the next appointment to line up and approach him one by one as he sat at one of the tables at the front of the bench in the court room

-Prosecutor asked who defendants were as they approached, obtained whatever related paperwork he had, and offered an alternate plea, or reduced charge to each person; these were all very short exchanges, no one successfully received an alternate offer to the one initially given. There was one person, not sure what the charge was, he was the only one who was asked what happened. The man answered and the prosecutor said there was no charge he could amend to, and suggested he proceed to trial, which he did

-We approached, as I was with my daughter who was charged. He asked who I was and took longer looking over the file (careless charge). Made a plea offer, was unreceptive to negotiation, or discussion to any alternative. I asked if she decided at a later time that she was interested in accepting the deal, was there a way she could get it, he told her to go to trial, and seek the deal before trial begins on the day set. Allowed us time to leave the court room and discuss options. My daughter returned to let him know she would not accept the offer, he made a note of the offer on the file and told her although no one else was obligated to offer her the same deal later, as it may not be the same prosecutor on trial date (read between the lines as he stressed he was writing it down that the same offer would likely be made)

-Went back into court room and let him know she would like to go to trial, he stressed again that he noted the deal offered on the file. He told us not to hang around, he would let the JP know that a resolution was not obtained

-For those entering guilty pleas to amended charges, or guilty to the original charge, the JP was very direct in a friendly manner, letting them know that he needed to know what they plead and that they understood what they were pleading to, he did not entertain any explanation no matter how bad the defendants wanted to