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Police Not In The Court!

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 11:30 am
by jimm

I can't find my cop. But the prosecutor said cop will show up if they call him. Is that true?


Court start at 9:30. If I plea not guilty, my case will be handled very late, and cop might show up at 2pm, is that ture?


I did plea guilty, I'm afraid to bet.


Re: Police Not In The Court!

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 11:42 am
by argyll

Yes, prosecutors can keep officers on the road and call them in if needed.


Re: Police Not In The Court!

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 12:00 pm
by jsherk

Yes its possible they can do that.


But remember you can tell prosecutor you want to plead not guilty and then when the trial starts they will say one of two things...

(1) we are not ready to proceed (officer is not there) and are withdrawing the charge, OR

(2) we are ready to proceed (means officer is there).


If (2) happens then you can just say you changed your mind and want to plead guilty now!


Re: Police Not In The Court!

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:20 pm
by jimm

jsherk wrote:Yes its possible they can do that.


But remember you can tell prosecutor you want to plead not guilty and then when the trial starts they will say one of two things...

(1) we are not ready to proceed (officer is not there) and are withdrawing the charge, OR

(2) we are ready to proceed (means officer is there).


If (2) happens then you can just say you changed your mind and want to plead guilty now!


If (2) happens, do you think I can still get a deal? In my case, I got a deal before the court starts. After prosecutor reads out the charge in the court, can he/she reduce charge?


Re: Police Not In The Court!

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 7:05 pm
by jsherk

No, once the trial starts any deals offered are gone. You only get the deal if you agree to plead guilty to it before the trial starts.


So you probably took the best choice, given that the officer most likely would have shown up if prosecutor called them.


Re: Police Not In The Court!

Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 7:41 am
by Nanuk

jsherk wrote:No, once the trial starts any deals offered are gone. You only get the deal if you agree to plead guilty to it before the trial starts.


So you probably took the best choice, given that the officer most likely would have shown up if prosecutor called them.


Yes, the days of officers not showing up for Provincial Offences Court are long gone. Most court is booked on a dayshift when the officer is working so that they can be at court and Police Services don't have to pay overtime for the officers to attend on a day off. Win- Win for the court and the Police Service.