OHTA.ca

Good morning,

A little late but everyone seems to be real helpful here so I figured I'd post anyway even if my hearing is tomorrow.

Back in November, I was charged with failure to drive in a marked lane 154(1)(a). The officer told me that this charge was only a fine and nothing went on my record - basically, pay it and it goes away. We chatted a bit at the time and I couldn't be bothered to look into further because of what he told me and because my son was born 5 days later.

In December, I had to obtain a copy of my record for something and, to my surprise, the charge was there with 3 points!! Luckily, the next day was the 30th day since conviction; therefore, I filled an appeal immediately. My original court date for the Hearing of Appeal way May 8th. I was in discussion with the prosecutor April 26th and May 7th to get info and try and work something out. On the 7th, she said that she still did not receive the officer's notes nor did he respond to my reason that he told me that the charge was just a fine.

She then said that she'd ask for an adjournment in court the following day because of this so I allowed her to ask for an adjournment on the 7th. I have an email with this agreement. Another reason she wanted to wait was that she thought the charge may not have been the correct one (I allegedly crossed a solid white line/bullnose) so the officer's notes would clear it up and, if incorrect, she would drop the charges.

The new date is tomorrow and still no disclosure (requested April 24). I called again last Thursday to find out what was going on and she still has not received her evidence.

What should I do? I have my reasons for the appeal but cannot justify some of them without disclosure. Furthermore, I am not receiving a trial in a timely manner. Could I ask for the conviction to be overturned at this point based on the non-disclosure and the adjournment (and possibly additional adjournment)?

Any advice will be appreciated and I'll try to answer questions, if any, as soon as I can.

Thanks!

It seems there are more than a few officers who tell people that the offence is only a fine and no demerit points as it happened to my son as well. People are willing to pay the fine without question because of the hassle to go to court but demerit points change that. The officer wants to avoid being questioned on his actions so he states something that isn't true. People have a tendancy to believe them and then get screwed. My son's charge was dismissed by the JP based partially on this scenario. Not all officers do this but when you're told that there are no demerit points - don't believe it. There are very few charges that only carry a fine and you're not likely to be pulled over for them.

Or perhaps it was just an error and what he thought. I know the basics such as speeding, careless driving, stop signs etc as to what has points but I do not know every charge that has points and I do not know the points associated with them. So I tell people that Points are between them and the MTO upon conviction. if they want to know what has points they can look it up online.

OPS

I still don't know how people get so hung up about demerit points. They are simply used by the MTO to track poor driving habits. Insurance companies don't even care about them. They care about offences in general(major and minor). A good example is is the offence of "Drive-hand-held communication device" The total fine is $155 and no demerit points. I spoke to my own insurance company for information purposes and they indictated that a conviction would likely result in a rate increase or loss of some discounts.

Pay no attention to demerit points when deciding whether to take a ticket to court.