“Trial's Coming Up In A Week!”

Hey guys,

Last November I was given a ticket for going 47km/hr over the limit while I was heading to church on Sunday morning. I don't believe I was going that fast so I chose to take the ticket to court. The court date is next Thursday.

I followed the advice on ticketcombat.com and faxed a request for disclosure but I only faxed it in July a couple weeks after I received the letter confirming my court date. The prosecutor has a total of six weeks from when I sent the disclosure request till the court date. Is this adequate time to process the request?

I'd like to know what I'll be up against, I can't take days to check it out even though I think I really need to. If the cop doesn't show, would I be off the hook? If I don't get full disclosure and request more time, would the blame fall on the prosecutor or me? Are there are any steps I'm missing?

I've already sent a second request for disclosure and will send a third this week, though I think I may have lost the first transmission confirmation. Will that be an issue?

I'm glad a sites like this and ticketcombat.com exist, I'd be totally lost without your help.

Thanks

Find the confirmation for the first request!

1) Go to the court house.

2) Line up to see the prosecutor

3) Tell him/her your name - she will look at her docket list and see the charge.

-- at this point, she may also see that disclosure was not given to you and may hand something to you. (re-read the ticket combat site about this).

If you cannot find the first confirmation page -- don't mention this to the prosecutor, just tell them that you did not receive disclosure yet. If he/she says that you didn't request it, your SOL.

If (s)he confirms that you didn't get it yet - (s)he may withdraw the charges. OR ask for a adornment.

Re-Read ticketcombat.com

Good Luck

After some searching I realized the fax machine stores faxes and transmission confirmations so I just had to print it out!

Thanks for your advice, I have re-read ticketcombat.com and realized I forgot a lot.

I still haven't received disclosure but it's obviously too late to file for any motion. I'll just hope the prosecutor gives up when he sees I haven't received my documents, I'm a little nervous about motioning for adjournment otherwise.

Will he tell me right away if they are going to motion for a stay/adjournment or will I have to wait till my hearing to find out?

I'll keep you guys updated

I arrived at the court room by 8:50, there were about 4 people lined up for the prosecutor. I only noticed what the two in front of me plead:

The first plead not guilty but then the prosecutor asked if he was travelling over 100km/hr, which he admitted to.

The man right in front of me was representing his wife, he plead guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor had a couple laughs about getting in her good books but stood her ground and said she could not lower the charge below 15km/hr.

When it was my turn, I stated I was pleading not guilty she questioned whether I was speeding at all but I knew better than the first man I mentioned. I stated that I was was intending to prove my innocence and that was all I had to say about my defense. She laughed and said she's never gone against someone like me and was excited to. That was a feint I'm sure since when I questioned her about the disclosure I didn't receive she claimed I submitted a late request in August, but I had the transmission confirmation for the request I sent in July. I suppose I shouldn't have shown it to her but after I had she admitted the officer wasn't here anyway.

Once inside, with the Justice seated, the prosecutor first called the man in front of me who was pleading guilty. I hoped he would stick around to see the mistake he made since the next 10 charges were withdrawn due to the absence of police officers, including mine. The whole affair was simple and taught me a lot. I will always take my tickets to court.

Once inside and the Justice was seated, she called for some police officers and it was evident none were around. The man in front was probably the only guilty plea since she called him first,

Good job on as one of my teachers said, "thinking on your feet".

Congrats!