... Stunt Driving charge....

was coming back home on an 80KM/H zone, got into the town city, officer pulls me over saying that one of his other officers saw me speeding back at the 80KM/H zone yet he didnt pull me over nor did he have a lazer on me, just eye sight. car got impounded for 7 days as well as my license, first when the officer pulled me over he said "my partner saw you doing 150 back there" i asked for proof, officer that saw me tells me something different, he didnt tell me my exact speed he just said i was going over 150-160 (bullshit). gave me one ticket for stunt driving, no speeding on it.

Stunt Driving is a serious charge and can cause your insurance to double, so you will probably want to fight this out.

If you take this to trial, then BOTH officers must be there to testify... the officer that pulled you over and gave you ticket, as well as the officer that originally supposedly saw you.

But you will not know how to fight this until you get disclosure (a copy of BOTH officers notes).

WHAT SHOULD I DO? HOW DO I FIGHT MY TICKET?

Regardless of how simple or complex the charge is (from parking tickets to DUI), you have the RIGHT to a fair trial and a RIGHT to see the evidence they have against you. Even if you admit to doing whatever you were charged with, you still have these rights.

So my advice is that you should plead NOT GUILTY and request a Trial with the officer present. Once you get your Notice of Trial with a trial date, you can request disclosure (copy of notes of all officers involved, copy of radar/laser device manual if applicable).

Once you get the disclosure (officers notes), post them back on the forum so we can review them and give you more advice (black out any personal id info and officer id info).

You have nothing to lose by doing this, as you can still plead guilty and pay the ticket anytime up to the trial. You have everything to gain because the officers notes contain what they will testify, and if something is missing in their notes, you might be able to get the charge dropped.

SHOULD I HIRE A PARALEGAL/LAWYER?

In order to save some money, you can usually do all the above steps yourself first, without the need to hire a paralegal or lawyer. Once you get the disclosure and depending on the seriousness of the charge, you can then decide whether to hire one or whether to try and fight it yourself. You can also arrange to meet with the prosecutor yourself before the trial, to see if they will offer you a plea deal. Again, there is no point in hiring a paralegal to negotiate a plea deal you can do yourself.

Points to consider:

- Do not hire any paralegal/lawyer that suggests they can win without seeing the disclosure first.

- Only hire a paralegal/lawyer that will review the disclosure with you and suggest possible defenses to try and fight it.

- Do not hire any paralegal/lawyer that considers "negotiating a plea deal" a win. Although a plea deal might be the best choice for you, some paralegals do not try to fight at all and will only negotiate plea deals and then they say they "won".

- Do not hire any paralegal/lawyer that "gurantees a win or you don't pay" as this is illegal in Ontario.

Vasile wrote:

was coming back home on an 80KM/H zone, got into the town city, officer pulls me over saying that one of his other officers saw me speeding back at the 80KM/H zone yet he didnt pull me over nor did he have a lazer on me, just eye sight. car got impounded for 7 days as well as my license, first when the officer pulled me over he said "my partner saw you doing 150 back there" i asked for proof, officer that saw me tells me something different, he didnt tell me my exact speed he just said i was going over 150-160 (bullshit). gave me one ticket for stunt driving, no speeding on it.

One or more officers are allowed to work together during traffic stops. It's not uncommon that the officer who pulls you over isn't necessarily the officer who first spotted you. One might wait for a speeding vehicle and signal a waiting officer down the road.

An officer isn't required to prove his case on the side of the road, which is why they wont. That's what your trial will be for. All that information will be provided upon request.

What you received was a summons to appear in court.

"So my advice is that you should plead NOT GUILTY and request a Trial with the officer present. Once you get your Notice of Trial with a trial date, you can request disclosure (copy of notes of all officers involved, copy of radar/laser device manual if applicable)."

There will be no Notice of Trial. You should have received a summons at the roadside.

Oh right, if you got a summons instead of a notice of offence, then you go to the court date on the summons, and you can tell them you want to plead not guilty and request a trial and would like disclosure.

I'm pretty sure you know what to do since this isnt your first offense http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com ... tml#p32745.

UnluckyDuck wrote:

I'm pretty sure you know what to do since this isnt your first offense http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com ... tml#p32745.

Good catch. That's pretty amusing.