The conviction can be appealed and the guilty plea quashed.
When entering a plea of guilty the defendant must comply with three conditions:
a) The plea must be volunteer, without impairment, coercion or unlawful incentive.
b) The plea must be informed. Knowledge of all circumstances regarding the charge and procedures, as well as options available to make full answer and defence.
c) The plea must be unequivocal. The defendant must be aware of the consequences of a plea of guilty. Demerit points, record, loss of employment opportunities, etc.
When paying a ticket, a defendant is pleading guilty to the charge as stated in the certificate. However if any of the above mentioned conditions is not fulfilled - in this case all of them-, the conviction may be successfully appealed.
Under these circumstances, the appellate court will order a trial and on a successful appeal the defendant will get back the money paid for the ticket .
Oh, and by the way:
Simon Borys wrote:When you file for an appeal you have to state your reasons. Normally appeals are only granted if your grounds are that there was an error in law. I don't know how this situation would play out, it would ultimately be up to the Justice to determine the validity of the argument. You could try making the argument that the defendant was so distraught over receiving the ticket and because of his age, and not having had the opportunity to consult with a parent, he was not in the position to make an informed decision about his options with respect to the ticket. This argument would hold more weight if the defendant was under 18 and still not considered an adult.
You ought to be kidding
Cheers.