Want to beat your ticket? Here’s how

We have done a blog post about the the different kind of tickets you can receive and what your ticket options are with each one. However, there are a couple of other options you might not know about. We like to call this option the Undisclosed Options.

Basically, you can beat your ticket without ever going to trial or filing your ticket. There are two instances in which you can do this. However both of these options require that there is an error on your ticket. It is important you read your ticket carefully and make sure everything is correct. If not, then you have two options:

1. Undisclosed Option #1: You ignore your ticket

When you ignore your ticket, here’s what happens:

After about 30-40 days (the back of your ticket says 15 days, so this process could happen on day 16, but generally it is after 30-40 days) the ticket goes to a Justice of the Peace (JP) with all of the other tickets that are also ignored. This is called an FTR – fail to respond. The JP looks over the tickets to see if it is “complete and regular” on its face.

Here is what the JP will be asking to confirm the ticket is valid:

• Is the ticket is in the correct jurisdiction?
• Is the offence date listed?
• Did the officer file the ticket within 7 days?
• Is there an officer named?
• Is the defendant named? (misspellings are allowed)
• Under the location, is the proper municipality used?
• Is the offence wording clearly stated?
• Is the statute and section number correct?
• Has the ticket been signed by the officer?
• If served on a date other than the offence date – is that within 30 days of the offence and the serving officer named?
• Is the set fine correct?
• Is the total payable amount correct?

If any errors in the information listed above are present the the ticket will be quashed. (stopped in its tracks). There is a gamble here though. The JP may have to review a hundred or more of these ignored tickets and it is possible he/she could miss an error, they are only human. If they do miss an error, a conviction is entered and 5 dollars is added to the fine and the ticket goes forward to collections. If you get notified, one of your options at that point is have to have the matter reopened.

2. Undisclosed Option #2: You request a trial and don’t show up

The other scenario is to file for Option 3, get a trial date, and then don’t show up. There are a few things that can happen:

• When your matter is called in court, your name will be paged. When they don’t get a response (because you’re not there), the prosecutor will proceed under 9.1 under the Provincial Offences Act, asking the court to deem the defendant as not contesting the offence and ask for a conviction. Next, your ticket will be given to the JP who will go through the same questions we outlined earlier and confirm that the notice of trial was actually sent out. Now, the JP is looking at only a few ticket as opposed to many, and it is much more likely that when the error is noticed, the ticket will be quashed.

• If the JP does not notice an error, the prosecutor might. If he/she does, then it is likely the charge would be withdrawn.

• If neither the prosecutor or the JP have noticed an error, the court clerk might. In this case, he/she would point it out to the JP, who will more than likely quash it.

What makes this option a little bit better than the first option is that there are more sets of eyes examining the ticket. It is practical to assume that at least one person will notice the error, and the charge will dropped or the ticket quashed.

One more thing. If you do show up to court and an error is noticed, with your presence and help some of these errors may be fixed, and the trial will continue with possible conviction.  However, no amendments other than misspelled names or postal code errors may be made if you are not there to defend the charge, leaving the ticket to be withdrawn because of an error.

If you have any questions about errors on your ticket, ask us! We do free consultations and will tell you about any errors on your ticket and how you can proceed.

If you do choose one of these Undisclosed Options and still you are convicted, you may be able to still reopen the matter and defend the charge.

Every situation is different. Remember you have a right to fight your ticket. At Bulwark Legal Services we provide free consultations. You can go to our website and send us a copy of your ticket. We will help you decide the right course of action to take.