Appeal Red Light Conviction

So I was convicted of proceeding green before red light and I want to appeal it because I am completely not guilty. I entered the intersection when my light was green. When I tried to turn left some cars started sooner (or maybe the timing of the light was having an issue). The other cars horned and the officer who was on foot pooled me over and he taught I pass the red light. He did not see my traffic light and he assumed based on the other signals. He then testified that he is expert in the traffic signal and the timing was OK. Do you think I have a chance to appeal it?

Appeals are not do-overs. You either had a fair trial or you didn't. Be aware it's not an opportunity to rehash the same arguments.

To be granted an appeal you need to convince the Courts that one of the following occurred:

1) Your conviction was unreasonable or not supported by evidence.

2) The Justice of the Peace made a legal mistake.

3) There was a miscarriage of justice.

Special appeals can also be allowed if there was misconduct on the part of a lawyer or significant new evidence that's come to light.

The process can be difficult and typically requires some familiarity with the law. As Bend said, it's not going to be a repeat of your trial. Rather, you'll need to convince the Courts that the evidence from your first trial should NOT have resulted in a finding of guilt.

This was an RCMP matter and I had a document from RCMP that they didn't have any documents (including officers) note 20 days after incidents, I presented this to the judge but she didn't accept it. I want to use this as ground of my appeal. Do you think does this a good ground?

Does the note say they didn't have any or did it say they didn't have anything ready to share with you. The RCMP wouldn't give you anything directly, it would come from the Crown.

What specifically do you believe the issue to be, that your disclosure wasnt ready 20 days after the offence? For reference, many defendants wait months to receive disclosure. Did you eventually receive disclosure? If so how long before your trial? As long as you had a reasonable amount of time to review the evidence against you, the Courts wont consider a delay in disclosure grounds for appeal. While a "reasonable" amount of time could be up for debate, typically for a simple traffic matter with a few pages of notes, it would be a short period of time (weeks at best).

I should also mention, if you are going to appeal, keep in mind you only have 30 days from you date of conviction to do so.

I believe the officer should write the note as soon as he writes a ticket and if he writes a note 20 days after the offence it is not credible. Because this was a RCMP issue so all document are belong to Federal Government and subject to Access to Information and Privacy Act. I used Privacy act to ask the RCMP to provide me all the information regarding the ticket and 20 days after the ticket they said they checked their documents and they do not have a officer's note. This shows RCMP did not have such note at least 20 days after ticket. And the note was the only evidence that Judge used there wasn't any wittiness or video,...

I'm just curious as to where this ticket was received?

Also, disclosure comes from the prosecutor. There should be no need to contact the issuing police service.

Ottawa. I requested the disclosure from prosecutor as soon as I received the court date but they didn't give me the officers note more than 3 month later. Also, officers not doesn't have a date written. I asked officer in the court specifically that if the note belongs to the RCMP or you and he said:RCMP. But RCMP letter shows they didn't have it at least 20 days later than ticket submission. DO you think this is good ground for appeal?

argyll wrote:Does the note say they didn't have any or did it say they didn't have anything ready to share with you. The RCMP wouldn't give you anything directly, it would come from the Crown.

They said they searched all of their documents and they do not have such a note.

Notes re in the officers notebook and not on a RCMP system. ATI will only check the official system. It does not mean that the notes were done after the fact.

OPS

If I appeal, what do I have to loose? I have been convicted with the set fine. Are there any bad consequences like the prosecutor can change the charge or increase the fine? Please help me

Just your time and money to file. You need to prove that the trial judge made a mistake in law. Not that he interpreted the evidence in a way you didn't like. From what you have told us you are wasting your time.

except transcriptions, is there any other cost involved?

When prosecutor asked the judge if the officer can use his note, the judge didn't ask me if I have an objection, Is this could be ground for appeal?