“Pulled Over And Ticketed Before Notice Was Served.”

Okay - I'm a law abiding citizen and for laziness of paying a fine on my part, my license was suspended (and I had no idea that it was) and I was "caught," ticketed and summoned for driving while suspended. Pretty common situation it seems.

Here's the difference in my scenario: I was pulled over and ticketed the day my license was suspended. MTO sent the notice dated the same day ... so I had no way of knowing that my license was suspended when I drove that day.

Here's the full sequence of events:

July/23/2013 - Pulled over and ticketed for driving while using hand held device

May/05/2014 - Convicted of the offence after failed attempt to fight the ticket at court; did not pay subsequent fine and filed it under "do this sometime later this summer"

July/21/2014 - Pulled over by police and ticketed for driving while suspended (they just ran my plates ... I had no knowledge of my license having been suspended)

July/23/2014 - Received letter from MTO (dated 07/21/2014 - same date as I was pulled over and ticketed) that my license was suspended as of 7/21 for not paying the fine for the conviction on 03/05

I am looking for advice here - I am not well versed with traffic tickets, etc. This seems like the punishment (significant it seems!) doesn't match the crime.

Do I have a decent defence? Should I hire a lawyer/paralegal? I have heard that I might be able to settle this before going to trial. How would I approach that?

Can anyone recommend a top-notch lawyer in Toronto for this sort of thing?

Thanks!!

You could still be convicted even though you weren't served notice. The Crown will argue you ought to have reasonably been aware of it since you failed to pay your fine. If the Crown isn't willing to cut you a deal, legal representation might not be a bad idea. I'd suggest paying off your outstanding fine and getting your licence reinstated ASAP to show the Crown/Court you're taking the matter seriously.