OHTA.ca

hi all, new here and a bit worried. I was issued a summons in 2011 and we had a first appearance for my offenses (driving without valid plates / and without valid insurance)

back in May of 2011. Then I was asked to come back on Nov 22 of 2011 (not sure why) and I never made it back for the second hearing (my father passed away) but I haven't heard anything back.

Today I went to pay my parking fines to get my suspended license reinstated and the lady at the court office just gave me my unpaid ticket numbers and said I could reinstate my licence once these were paid up in full. There was no information about the charges on my license.

I am trying to find out what I need to do to pay my fines / charges but not sure where to start ? should I be calling the court?

Im reading that I could get arrested for failure to appear in court but I did go to the first appearance . Just wasn't able to go to the follow up.

Why is there nothing on my license about this?

Any information / insight would be much appreciated.

Are the unpaid tickets the ones you were going to Court for or something else? It sounds like you were simply convicted in absentia. That means you were found guilty when you didnt show up for Court. If convicted of both offences youre looking at some serious fines to pay off, somewhere around $5,000-$6,000. Youll need to attend the Court office to find out what you owe.

You will find - if you still have the originals - those ticket numbers she gave you are the same citations the officer gave you when you were pulled over, for example. If you do not dispute a citation, you are guilty by default. If you selected the option to challenge the charges in court, you are innocent until proven guilty if you appear. You gave up your legal right to challenge the charges because you didn't show.

Get a break down of the fines, penalties and interest and hope the judge was kind enough to drop the charge for having no proof of insurance.

It is your right to have clear and precise reason for any action. If the judge wants you to reappear another day, ask why. Keep in mind, your corporation was charged for not having valid plates and insurance, not you, the living man or woman. The court cannot force you to pay [anything technically] a fine greater than you agree to. If you had gone when you were supposed to, you probably could have quite easily had the charges and/or fines reduced significantly.

If you want to represent your corporation, a good traffic lawyer is only like $400. You could have had one represent you in court playing their game while you were attending funeral services and would have cost you less in the long run.

Work smarter, not harder.