Posts Tagged ‘fighting tickets’
I’m always amazed at the amount of poorly qualified or outright incorrect information on the web when I search for traffic enforcement related information. One popular topic that seems especially mistreated is disclosure of the Crown’s evidence prior to trial. The authors of the articles would have you believe that you should ask for everything, including the brand of ink in the officer’s pen, and when any of it is refused the ticket will automatically be dismissed.
If you are considering a ticket dispute, you may choose to write to the officer who issued the ticket and request disclosure. Do this at the same time that you enter your dispute so that there is plenty of time for the officer to comply. This way if you have any questions after receiving disclosure you will have time to ask for clarification before the trial date.
If you simply request disclosure, you will receive a synopsis of the evidence that the officer will be presenting during the trial. You may request specific disclosure for information about the officer’s qualifications, what kind of speed measuring instrument was used or for a copy of any evidence that will be presented, such as photos, videos or witness statements. The court will support all reasonably justified requests.
Photocopies of copyrighted material such as the radar operation manual will be refused, although you could expect to attend to the detachment and view a copy to make notes from. Copies of all tickets the officer issued that day and the outcome of any trials related to them, servicing records for the police vehicle, reports of all disciplinary actions against the officer or other such requests will not be upheld by the court.
Would you like reliable advice on the preparation of your dispute? Consider the Lawyer Referral Service operated by the Canadian Bar Association. The $25.00 fee may save you frustration and allow you to concentrate on what is pertinent to your defence.
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Roses for Valentine’s Day
I’m sure there are a lot of guys on here (and maybe even some girls) that think Valentine’s Day is the dumbest day ever. Another Hallmark holiday created and commercialized so restaurants can double their prices and halve their service. However, for those of you who DO plan on doing something special for your girlfriend, wife or other special someone in your life a new sponsor has joined Beyond.ca offering a bouquet of roses for only $59.99 with free delivery. They will also be providing late night delivery service (until 11pm!) so check them out if you plan on going out for V-Day.
Police Parade Goat Around as Robbery Suspect
The next time you complain about the Calgary Police Service doing a poor job, refer to this thread. Police in Nigeria are holding a goat as a primary robbery suspect and will continue to do so until their investigation is finished. A vigilante group made the “arrest” and handed the goat over to police. They claim the goat was a car thief who had used witchcraft to change shape. The belief in witchcraft is common in Nigeria, and apparently stupidity runs pretty rampant over there too.
Do you know why I pulled you over?
At some point in time, drivers will hear that question from a police officer. Most if not all of the time we know the answer to the question but we never know what we should say. Should you be honest and admit fault or play dumb and hope for the best? If you’re honest and get a ticket anyway, you’re screwed with no recourse. If you lie, you may lose out on the warning you would’ve got and be handed a ticket. What would you do?
A new thread on this topic is started at least every week on the car forums. An unfortunate driver gets a bunch of tickets from a “power hungry” cop, and doesn’t want to pay for them so he seeks advice on our forums on how to fight the ticket. The usual responses are to head down to talk to the crown to get the charges reduced or better yet, completely dropped.
Justin Bell was pulled over by an RCMP officer after being clocked going 109 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. While most drivers in this case would accept the ticket and slow down, Bell had other ideas. After talking to the officer and realizing he was going to get a ticket, he asked the officer to speak to him in french instead. When the officer informed Bell he could not speak French, Bell ignored this and continued speaking in french. He continued to ignore the officer who was still speaking english the whole time, that is until the officer uttered “You’re under arrest!”.
“For what?” Bell inquired in English.
“Well, let’s put it this way,” the officer responded. “It’s dangerous driving, 109 in a 60 zone.”
Yesterday, a Saskatchewan judge stayed the charges against Bell after deciding that the RCMP officer did not have legitimate reason to place Bell under arrest. Its important to note that when a charge is stayed, the court is not ruling that Bell is innocent, but instead the charges are invalidated. I’m not a legal expert by any means, but I think the RCMP officer can still re-issue a speeding ticket for the original violation under the Highway Traffic Act. However, even if this was a possibility, I doubt it would happen and more than likely Bell has successfully fought a speeding ticket.
I bet it would’ve been a hell of a lot cheaper to just hire someone like pointts to fight the ticket :)
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