Plead Or Request Court Date? (worthwhile?)
About a week back I was charged with using a handheld device while driving – without getting into the nitty-gritty details, while stopped at a light I touched my phone to activate the voice feature, and unfortunately since it was not mounted to the dash I did have it in my hand for a brief enough time that it was noticed by a hidden OPP officer observing the intersection, and I was pulled over.
It was a polite interaction with the officer, however I did end up with a ticket. I don't recall the exact conversation however in the interest of full disclosure here I may have inadvertently admitted guilt, however I can't be 100% sure.
Originally I had planned to plead guilty with an explanation to the JP and ask for a reduced fine (option 2), however it was subsequently suggested by a few people that I request a court date and at least make some effort to fight the ticket – this is where my questions are however.
- Am I correct in assuming that once I request a court date that any hope of having the fine reduced goes out the window?
- By requesting a court date even knowing that possibly the officers notes incriminate me, I am I risking either in increased fine or harsher punishment come my court day by having done dragged it to court?
- If I jump through all the hoops for a court date however it becomes obvious to me that I am wasting my time even standing in front of the judge knowing that I am going to be held guilty, is there an opportunity before that point that I would be able to change my plea, pay the fine, and be done with the situation? This kind of goes back to the first question, is all hope of a reduced dollar amount (at the very least) out the window at that point?
I guess my ultimate goal of requesting a court date is hoping that the officer may have made insufficient notes to make the charge stick, may not show up in court (it was in an area with apparent frequent transfers of officers between locations, so who knows), or perhaps the ticket will time out under the situations I've read about that deal with court delays and I can petition to have it tossed accordingly - possibly the best case scenario?
Ultimately if none of those work and I end up standing in front of the judge knowing I'm in a lost cause, what ultimately could be the outcome?
Thanks in advance for guidance.