Police officer didn't show up and JP rescheduled the trial

Hi,

Police officer didn't show up so I thought the tickets I got would be withdrawn. However, the JP said the trial needs to be rescheduled; now I need to take another day off to attend. Many people at the court with me also appealed but their trials were rescheduled, too. Is this common practice? If police officer doesn't show up again, would it be rescheduled again? Or, is it all depends on JP's call? Thanks!

If there's a reason why they aren't there such as illness then it might be rescheduled but if they just don't turn up then the charges should be dropped normally.

Was there a reason given why the officer was not there?

I have heard of this in some cases from other people, if you ask me this usually it happens when JP is biased. It may have been a blessing in disguise.

I have been to court when officer was on call or on duty and the ticket was withdrawn, but this was done by the prosecutor not the JP, assuming because he knew this JP would not go for an adjournment.

At the end of the day, this delay goes against the crown, so if it goes into 11b territory, it works in your advantage.

The reason for the officer's absence was illness. Interestingly, three cases including mine had the same reason

- I got the ticket early April, 2015

- Trial was scheduled for early December, 2015

- I requested change in the trial date as I was not able to take time off from the work

- New trial date was set to early March, 2016, where I attended but the police officer didn't show up

- JP set a new trial date, mid April 2016

Is the case eligible for an 11b application even with the fact that there's ~3 months of delay requested by me? Do I apply for an 11b before the new trial or I just attend the new trial mid April and make an argument with the 11b right? Thank you!!

Illness is a valid reason. Same goes for the defendant: if you're ill, you get an adjournment, if you just don't turn up you get a judgement against you.

Did you OBJECT when the JP wanted to reschedule the trial? This may not always work, but it shows up on the court transcript that you wanted to proceed and you objected to a new date. Too many people just agree without objecting.

When they count the days for an 11b they substract any time that was caused by you. So the 11b will probably not be succesful given that 3 months delay is caused by you. If you want to do an 11b application you need to file it about 4 weeks ahead of the trial.

Thank you, jsherk

Yes, I did appeal and told the JP that it's hard to take another time off from the workplace. One of the people at the trial with me even brought his witness but the JP just re-scheduled his, too.

Is there any minimum duration for an 11b application, such as a year? Thanks!

jsherk wrote:

Did you OBJECT when the JP wanted to reschedule the trial? This may not always work, but it shows up on the court transcript that you wanted to proceed and you objected to a new date. Too many people just agree without objecting.

When they count the days for an 11b they substract any time that was caused by you. So the 11b will probably not be succesful given that 3 months delay is caused by you. If you want to do an 11b application you need to file it about 4 weeks ahead of the trial.

Thanks, argyll

Now I guess my question is what are the odds the police officer shows up in the re-scheduled trial next month

argyll wrote:

Illness is a valid reason. Same goes for the defendant: if you're ill, you get an adjournment, if you just don't turn up you get a judgement against you.

ilike wrote:

Hi,

Police officer didn't show up so I thought the tickets I got would be withdrawn. However, the JP said the trial needs to be rescheduled; now I need to take another day off to attend. Many people at the court with me also appealed but their trials were rescheduled, too. Is this common practice? If police officer doesn't show up again, would it be rescheduled again? Or, is it all depends on JP's call? Thanks!

Somebody I know has 55 over ticket which is now a criminal charge, officer was a no-show and JP immediately re-scheduled for another date while his lawyer tried to argue the charge should be dismissed since officer was not present, did not work and I am also curious about why.

55 over is not a criminal charge...Adjournments happen all the time, for both sides, this is not uncommon or unusual. Just keep track of the adjournments, and who is asking for them for any future 11b arguments...