OHTA.ca

I have a trial the first week of april, for passing out of the lane i have faxed 3 copys of disclosure to the court and I have yet to recieve a call. I just wonder what my options are:

Is there any chance I can get off by just showing up and telling the judge i did not recieve disclosure?

or will my trial be postponed and i will recieve disclosure at that time?

any insight would be great>

bring your fax copies to court. ask the judge to stay the proceedings for lack of disclosure as it violates your charter rights. if he's a prick he'll say too bad. otherwise it will be adjourned. get your discl request stamped while you are at court so you have proof.

thanks for getting back! so if the judge does not stay the case would he adjourn it for another date?

I unfortuanetly only have one proof of fax I did not save them all.

In re... get your discl request stamped while you are at court so you have proof. Not sure what you mean re this?

If you submit a disclosure request at the Prosecutor's office at the courthouse, you're supposed to submit two copies. They take one, and stamp the other as "received" and hand it back to you. If they hand the disclosure to you, well, then you have it and that's that.

If you did not get disclosure, then, in your case, I'd argue that it is necessary and you cannot proceed to trial without it. They should adjourn and charge the delay to the Prosecutor IF you show enough proof that you made a couple of disclosure requests within a reasonable time frame.

I was under the assumption you are supposed to fax your request for disclosure to the number on the sheet is that not the correct procedure?

I only have 1 fax confirmation recipt, do you think I will be O.k?

You will be ok with only 1 fax confirmation receipt if the Prosecutor themselves acknowledge receipt. Most should have notes of the date requests were made [it makes them look bad if they don't even know about requests in the cases the defence brings all proper documentation]. Bringing copies of the requests without receipts can help only marginally, as you do not have documentation to prove of their delivery.

Even one request, with receipt, should suffice for an adjournment. Especially if it was made within a reasonable time of the trial [say 6 weeks]. There is a chance the Crown will withdraw charge in these cases of non-disclosure. That will be up to them entirely.

When you arrive in court on the day of your trial, you should check in with the Prosecutor prior to entering the court room and ask for your disclosure package. This shows them you are aware of your rights to disclosure and they might not want to bother with adjourning the trial and opening up to a potential 11b motion. Be polite and don't insinuate anything.

appreciate the feed back !in re There is a chance the Crown will withdraw charge in these cases of non-disclosure. That will be up to them entirely.

would it be best to not see the prosecutor and just wait till my name is called and ask the judge to drop the charges?

No, the "judge" [Justice of Peace in POA court] cannot drop charges. Only the Prosecutor can withdraw a charge. A Justice of Peace can stay a charge given trial commencement and arguments made towards why a stay of charges would be the best remedy. It's not an easy feat.

just read thru again, 3 faxes and no response,hmm, check the fax number with the POA court to ensure it is going to the court, as opposed to some other fax somewhere else

If you serve the notice for disclosure with Registered Mail they cannot dispute the proof of your request. You should not proceed without full disclosure and you can get it dismissed if they continue to disregard your rights.