“Need Help For Convicted Offence Before Going To Trial”

I got 2 tickets in mid March

1. disobey stop sign: I intend to fight this

2. no currently validated permit: I had the permit with valid sticker when driving that day but missing the other identical half of it. The cop said to bring the other half to the court and they will cancel it.

I filled out 2 notices of intention to appear for both tickets the next day and had stamps on both.

However I received the Notice of Fine and due date for both tickets today (May 1) and it says that I have been convicted.

It looks like that my forms of intention to appear in court went missing. What should i do now?

Thanks for any input

What did the courthouse say when you contacted them and explained what happened?

tdottopcop wrote:What did the courthouse say when you contacted them and explained what happened?

I just learned about the conviction thru mail yesterday and want to get some advice on what to do next before giving them a call.

Have you recently changed addresses or is the address on your licence exactly where you live right now? Did you really get your notice of trial in the mail and you or someone else put the envelope aside in a rush and forget about it?

It's not a huge deal. Go to the court and reopen the case. You need to tell them why you are reopening the case because you didn't receive notice of trial.

HPTO wrote:Have you recently changed addresses or is the address on your licence exactly where you live right now? Did you really get your notice of trial in the mail and you or someone else put the envelope aside in a rush and forget about it?

It's not a huge deal. Go to the court and reopen the case. You need to tell them why you are reopening the case because you didn't receive notice of trial.

No change of address.

Sorry i should have been clear that the offence was in Mar 2013 and the conviction was in April 2013, so it was only one month gap, which means that the notice of trial has not been sent out. The only thing that can make sense to me is that my applications for intending to appear in court were lost.

I agree with you also after doing some research that the resolution is reopening the matter.

Thanks for input

greentea wrote:

HPTO wrote:Have you recently changed addresses or is the address on your licence exactly where you live right now? Did you really get your notice of trial in the mail and you or someone else put the envelope aside in a rush and forget about it?

It's not a huge deal. Go to the court and reopen the case. You need to tell them why you are reopening the case because you didn't receive notice of trial.

No change of address.

Sorry i should have been clear that the offence was in Mar 2013 and the conviction was in April 2013, so it was only one month gap, which means that the notice of trial has not been sent out. The only thing that can make sense to me is that my applications for intending to appear in court were lost.

I agree with you also after doing some research that the resolution is reopening the matter.

Thanks for input

Called the court office today, a woman said same thing: reopen the case.

One question though, do i have to pay the fine first while waiting for the reopening decision?

Anyone?

No

tdottopcop wrote:No

I went the court house, asked to reopen the cases, they said it was their mistake so they would fix it and that i do not need to do anything, don't have to pay the fines just wait for notice of trial in the mail.

Ok, I then asked to give me something in writing about what they just told me, but was told no receipt provided only verbal assurance. I then asked and spoke to the supervisor as well, but no dice.

What a load of cr*p from these public (politician) servants!

You should be clear about whether your case is being "reopened" or "appealed". Reopenings are governed by s. 11 of the POA. They are available only within 15 days of the conviction. Outside that time frame you would normally be talking about a full appeal, which is governed by Part VII of the POA (though possibly the court is reopening your case even if you are outside the 15 days, obviously I don't know). For appeals, s. 111(1) says you DO have to pay the fine before appealing, although I believe you can request an exception to that. Aside from whether you have to pay the fine up front or not, there are different procedures for reopenings and appeals. Again, it's important to know which one you are undertaking and regardless, unless you're familiar with how to conduct a reopening or appeal, consider contacting a lawyer or paralegal.

Simon Borys wrote:You should be clear about whether your case is being "reopened" or "appealed". Reopenings are governed by s. 11 of the POA. They are available only within 15 days of the conviction. Outside that time frame you would normally be talking about a full appeal, which is governed by Part VII of the POA (though possibly the court is reopening your case even if you are outside the 15 days, obviously I don't know). For appeals, s. 111(1) says you DO have to pay the fine before appealing, although I believe you can request an exception to that. Aside from whether you have to pay the fine up front or not, there are different procedures for reopenings and appeals. Again, it's important to know which one you are undertaking and regardless, unless you're familiar with how to conduct a reopening or appeal, consider contacting a lawyer or paralegal.

Its clear that my case is "reopened" because I was convicted without a hearing as I never received a notice of trial although I did file the notice of intention to appear (stamp on the ticket as proof) and Its still within 15 days after becoming aware of the conviction.

I read that an "affidavit in support of a request for reopening" must be filed and a Justice will decide whether to grant the reopening or not.

I am confident I will be granted the reopening as the bureaucrats already admitted that it was their fault and told me that they would fix it, they would reopen the case for me. But they refused to give me any receipt or writing to that effect so I have no proof of requesting the reopening.

Can I trust that the bureaucrats will fix it behind the scene for me? What else can I do as there is still 8 days left before the reopening expires?