“Hand-held Device Charge, Brampton, On, Plea Bargain”

I've been meaning to do this for a while. Just wanted to post my experience with a hand-held device charge. I was stopped and charged at a red light in Brampton, ON, for using my cell on speaker phone. It was in my car's console, but the police officer was driving a truck and looked down. I have to admit, I'm not sure if I was on my phone or not at the time, but I did that all the time when talking with my wife so I guess it was my time to pay the piper. Anyways, I went to Brampton court on my court date and spoke with the prosecutor. She asked me if I wanted to fight it or "save some money." She asked me if I had hired a representative and I said no. Having no experience in court and not interested in paying somebody $400 or $500 to represent me, I asked her what my options were. She offered to reduce the charge to "driving in contravention of conditions" which carries zero points and drop the fine to $300 from $490. I took it. The fine actually worked out to $365 with the victim charge, but it was $125 less than I would have paid. I spoke to the officer who ticketed me and he said lots of people fight it, lose and get the full charge, 3 points and the full fine. Well, that was my experience. I have since bought a car with blue tooth.

Thanks for sharing your story! Hope your enjoying your bluetooth

This is pretty unbelievable. I did not believe there was an alternate charge to holding a hand-held device until today.

The out of court set fine appears to be $85, with a total of $110. However, it appears the prosecutor upped the fine.

S. 32(9) - Drive motor vehicle in contravention of conditions

Driving in breach of condition prohibited

(9) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway while contravening a condition contained in his or her driver’s licence or imposed by the regulations. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 32 (9).

I'm wondering how this affects 2019 legislation going forward with mandatory license suspensions and increased fines for hand-held devices.

How popular are S32(9) plea-bargains in OcJ? I'm at a complete loss for words. It's written such that any charge can be amended to S32(9).

I can’t see this applying to hand held devices. This section is meant for violating a condition on a driver’s licence such as the requirement to wear prescription glasses.

Guys, a plea bargain is just what the name implies. If the prosecutor is offering you a plea bargain and amending the charge, they don't need to prove it as you've said "your guilty" and no evidence is required to be entered. You also give up your rights to an appeal etc.

You can fight the original offence, but keep in mind the set fine no longer applies and the penalties that are under the HTA section now does.

The set fines are just there to expedite people through the process, it's technically already a discount towards the offence as the real fine is in the HTA section for whatever charge you get.