“Misrepresentation - Help”

Hi I went to one of those ticket fighters and I requested two things.

1. I want to go to court to argue my case because I don't believe I was at fault for speeding (emergency cicumstance and my life was in danger if I did not)

2. To postpone the date of the trial because I was unable to make it to the posted day (They also never informed me of the actual trial date)

However, I found out later that not only did they not postpone the date of my trial after I called in to my attorney to request this specifically, but I found out they didn't even go to court to represent me in the trial. They basically took my money and went ot the crown to said I was guilty and to reduce my ticket.

Is there anything I can do to get a trial redone because my legal council did not listen to my instructions?

Thanks,

You can request an appeal, or you can try to reopen the trial. Not sure how you would get your money from the paralegal company though.

You did specifically tell them to fight it all the way and not take/offer a reduced plea bargain, right?

Even so, your attorney may have got all of the disclosure evidence against you and realized that there was no way they would win in court. Speeding is not that hard for the Crown to obtain a conviction on. The other risk is that if you proceed to trial and lose, many JPs will impose the statutory HTA fine instead of the set fine, which is a higher amount.

If I were to appeal or want to do a retrial how would I go about doing this?

Is there an online reference for me to read the entire Ontario Highway Traffic Act?

Money is not as big of an issue to me regarding this case, but I specifically requested the paralegal to go all the way with the trial regardless of what they think. Is there a way to sue the paralegal company for intentional misrepresentation and how well will that hold up in court?

Thanks,

Given the nature of relationship with a paralegal company, you would have to file this in a small claims court.

You can view most of the OHTA here on-site. However, the entire act is available here: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statut ... 0h08_e.htm. I think that you are interested in PART IX: RATE OF SPEED

Thanks for the References, now that I have decided to reopen the case I read that I have 15 days to do so from the date of conviction.

Are there any suggestions anybody can provide me with to win this case? Because after reading the section Rate of Speed, I found there are no provisions to protect the driver in the event of an emergency due to reckless driving of another driver.

Here's my situation:

1) Driving on the left most side of the road of the three lanes

2) Tailgated by driver behind (so close couldn't even see his headlights)

3) On the right, the driver continously swarved and was dangerously close to crashing into me

4) I spend up to to avoid continously being boxed in, but before I could pass the car on my right the officer caught me

5) Officer caught me on his radar/laser with a tripod and walked out to the road to stop the car on the 2nd lane and my car on the 3rd lane.

6) Officer asked the car in the 2nd lane repeatedly to stop but the driver failed to comply several times, until finally he did.

7) Officer signaled me to drive to the right to be pulled over and ticketed.

Thanks,

Speeding is an absolute liability offence. They only have to prove that you were the driver, and as the driver did commit the alleged offence on the highway. Once they've proven that (not terribly difficult), the only defences you have are necessity and duress.

You'd have to get disclosure (officer's notes, lidar manual). The officer needed to test the device before and after the stop (not necessarily immediately before and after) and found it to be working properly in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Did he do so? (Probably.) Did he observe two vehicle(s) speeding and then use the device only after he visually observed them driving at what he believed was a rate of speed that was above the limit? How much experience does he have with LIDAR? Review the officer's notes and see what's there. He really only has to indicate the before/after test, observed vehicle driving fast, activated/used device on same vehicle, stopped vehicle without sight lost, and identified driver of vehicle (you).

Defence of necessity applies if your life or someone else's life is in grave and imminent danger. Unfortunately, someone behind you driving like a cementhead is a very weak necessity defence and is not likely to work. Generally it would have to be something like a medical emergency, or someone was chasing you and waving a firearm at you, or something like that. Duress would be something like having an armed kidnapper stick a gun to your head and say "drive fast," but in that situation the speeder isn't going to be charged. (Well, maybe in Ohio.)

To appeal, you'd have to pay the fine, order the transcripts and fill out the appeal paperwork with your reason for appeal. You can also ask for a re-opening.