OHTA.ca

Hi.

I'm going to trial in a couple of weeks regarding my Fail to Stop at a Stop sign in Toronto, and was hoping to get additional pointers on my defense.

For starters, is a 9 months for the trial too long a wait?

Secondly, should the officer's notes state the time and date of the offense? I was given a photocopy of a single sheet of his logbook, without mention of time and date.

Thirdly, my defense is that while I allegedly went through the stop, the officer was actually busy writing up another driver, making him too preoccupied to properly notice me. (I'm guessing this is why the disclosure seems incomplete.)

Fourthly, if he officer denies that to be the case, or can't seem to remember that part, is there any recourse for me?

And for the record, I did stop. I noticed him on the side of the road when I checked if the intersection was clear so I made sure to stop.

Thanks in advance.

The officer may simply go by the date/time on the ticket itself. As for your defence, you'll have to simply try to clearly articulate to the Court what you said here. You observed the officer, who you believed to be preoccupied and made sure that it was a full stop.