“Officer Is Away On The Day Of The Trial!”

So I received a letter in the mail saying that the Officer would like to change the date of the trial for my Speeding Ticket as he is going to be attending a mandatory course for his job on that date. So I attended the hearing in court and argued against the "change in the trial date" and the justice of peace ruled in my favor and said that the date of the trial is not going to be changed.

Now I'm wondering since the officer is going to be away, is it possible that he may send someone else to represent him instead? Can prosecutors or maybe another police officer repserent his case? Do they even normally do that?

Or is he just going to ignore my case and I just win by default?

Any inputs is greatly appreciated.

No one else can represent the officer. If the officer is not present, they do not have any evidence. However, the Crown may ask for an adjournment, and, depending on how sympathetic the JP is to them, they might get it. The officer may change plans and show up for the trial. The most likely scenario is that the Crown will withdraw the charge, but be prepared for a full trial just in case.

Radar Identified wrote:However, the Crown may ask for an adjournment, and, depending on how sympathetic the JP is to them, they might get it.

Thanks for your reply.

But the officer already did ask for an adjournment and I argued against it in court and proved to them that I can not attend any other date than the already set date and won. Can they still request for another adjournment if he doesn't show up? Wouldn't that be the same thing as the first adjournment hearing I attended?

Sort of... They could try to move it to a much later date with the adjournment. They can make the request, but you've got solid evidence (namely the previous decision of the JP) that the trial needed to be held on that day, and the Crown had plenty of advanced warning. If the JP is leaning toward an adjournment... you could politely advise the Crown Prosecutor, should they be successful, you will have no choice but to file an 11B motion (unreasonable delay).

If anything, I'd expect the officer to show up, if they're really desperate to prosecute the case.

I agree, but notifying the prosecutor may not be that advisable depending how long it's been. If the entire process is going to take 11+ months then by all means tell the Crown and maby they will drop it then and there cause they really have no hope. There is an 11b template designed by case law out there somewhere to calculate how long the wait has really been.