Hi all,

So about a month ago I received a stunt/racing charge for going 140 in an 80 zone. I decided to go with a paralegal, and was notified by the paralegal that on the summon's it states to go to a criminal court. The paralegal was confused as this should be at a Provincial court. They said that since I do not have any criminal charges, that the officer wrote the wrong address down including the fact that the court room does not exist at this criminal court house, only at the provincial court house. Does anyone know if this get me off the charge completely?

No, the charge still exists but the compelling to court part is flawed. They can just re-serve you.

argyll wrote:No, the charge still exists but the compelling to court part is flawed. They can just re-serve you.

How long do they have to re-serve me? If they can't find me, does that qualify for the ticket to be dropped?

Planning on leaving the country,

I here Mexico is nice this time of the year and no extradition treaty..............

LOLZ

slowpoke1980 wrote:

argyll wrote:No, the charge still exists but the compelling to court part is flawed. They can just re-serve you.

How long do they have to re-serve me? If they can't find me, does that qualify for the ticket to be dropped?

Or someone could just move into the Ecuadorian Embassy.....

I believe they have up to 6 months from date of offence to re-issue and re-serve a new ticket. If they can't find you, then can just mail it your last know address and that is considered served.

....and spits his tea all over the keyboard laughing

argyll wrote:Or someone could just move into the Ecuadorian Embassy.....

then I'm sure from other posters, they deal with you in absence and pretty soon your licence is cancelled

jsherk wrote:I believe they have up to 6 months from date of offence to re-issue and re-serve a new ticket. If they can't find you, then can just mail it your last know address and that is considered served.

Sorry to revive an old thread.

So here's the story. I got a paralegal, and they checked the docket at both court houses for my name. It wasn't on either of them. My paralegal asked if I could lay low for awhile and in 6 months if they can't re-serve me, the ticket is considered expunged.

It's been about a month since the initial court date, and just this past week, my neighbor notified me that a plain clothed officer visited my home. My neighbor saw him and asked him why he was looking for me, however the officer told him that he didn't feel comfortable saying, and asked if I lived there. My neighbor answered yes, and he went on his way. I asked him how he knew, and he said he saw a badge on his belt, and the car he was driving was camouflaged.

So, I'm a little concerned at the moment. Just because my paralegal showed me the docket and my name wasn't on the list, would the police put a warrant out for me? Also, how diligent are they on trying to re-serve people? And do they send officers from other districts to re-serve people?

If your name was not on the docket, then there should not be a warrant. The officer was probably looking for you to serve a new summons/ticket.

If they feel that you are avoiding service they can apply for a warrant. The chance was they wouldn't bother trying to re-serve but if they are then it's not going to go away. It will have a task due date at the station and someone's supervisor is going to lean on them to get you served.

argyll wrote:If they feel that you are avoiding service they can apply for a warrant. The chance was they wouldn't bother trying to re-serve but if they are then it's not going to go away. It will have a task due date at the station and someone's supervisor is going to lean on them to get you served.

Thanks for that answer. What qualifies as "avoiding" service? Just because I am not home when they are there, does that make it avoiding? Also, is it only a task for that particular station? Would it be better I call them up somehow and turn myself in?

avoiding SERVICE WOULD BE IF YOU FAILED TO RETURN MESSAGES LEFT FOR YOU TO CALL THEM, DIDN'T ANSWER THE DOOR WHEN YOU WERE HOME, etc (oops hit caps lock - sorry).

They can just mail you a copy of whatever they are trying to serve and it is conisdered served 7 days after they mail it.

That said, there is no requirement for you to answer the door when the police show up (unless they have a search warrant to search your home). You do not have to open the door. And even if you do open the door, you do not have to talk to police, you do not have to answer any questions and you do not have to identify yourself. These are your CANADIAN CHARTER RIGHTS ... study them and know them!

Don't believe me? See what these lawyers have to say about it:

http://www.criminaltriallawyers.ca/?q=know-your-rights

http://www.hosseinilaw.com/talking-to-the-police/

jsherk wrote:They can just mail you a copy of whatever they are trying to serve and it is conisdered served 7 days after they mail it.

If they can just "mail" it and consider it served, why then do they even bother showing up to my house? I asked this exact question to my paralegal and they said "It has to be personal service.

If they cannot serve you within the 6 months from the date of the occurrence, the ticket is not valid." Those were their exact words.

Where did you find the info about mailing and being considered served? I'm curious to know because I feel like a criminal right now.