Court Hearing

[Casanova.]

nothing

[DearSummer]

Plead guilty with reason and pay a reduced fine. Have a sob story like you are too poor to pay the full fine but are really sorry for the dumb mistake you made. Watch what happens to the people before you as it will give you a good indication of the judge's personality and personal biases. I have successfully negotiated with the prosecution out of charges a few times. The legal system is so overcapacity that they will do almost anything to keep you out of court. The police officer's word will always be believed over yours, whether that is fair or not.

[Casanova.]

What if I tell the truth of what actually happened? Also at the time the officer told me that this won't be on my record anywhere else but in the city I got charged, is this true? Will it appear on background checks? If it doesn't I'll plead guilty. Also is there anything else I should know before I go in? Like how does the whole process work?

[thepersianguy]

say that youre very religious and have never had alcohol in your life.

[stuntman]

How about having your friend own up to it?

You probably won't win but you can ask the cop things like

1) how many people were there?
2) what type of can was it?
3) was I holding a can when you gave me the ticket?
4) no? How could you tell for certain it was me that put the can down?
5) is it possible that you saw my friend or someone else and mistook that person for me?
6) do you remember telling me that this would only be on my record in local town?

If he can't remember the type of can or how many people he is not observant. Be nice to the guy, if you are against him you are not his friend and screw you.

sm

[umop]

say that youre very religious and have never had alcohol in your life.

Religious people make mistakes though.

[mrcantrell]

Religious people make mistakes though.

Nope, clearly you're wrong.

[ji2o0k]

Prior to your court date, ask the prosecutor for disclosure (the officer's notes)....

Once you receive those notes, take a look at what he noted and start poking holes in his notes and his recollection of that evening.

Ideally you would have photos from that evening in question that would further strengthen your side of the story

(i.e. Officer notes that person holding the open can is wearing blue but your photos of that night clearly show you wearing white <--- this is just a hypothetical example)..

Too many people equate this as an officer's word vs yours but in reality, you can introduce evidence that pokes holes in the officer's notes and his recollection of that evening that raises doubts whether it is you that should be charged....

[kindred_99]

I'm not sure if I missed something but were you in a car or walking down the street? How could he give a ticket to the wrong person? Was the container in someone's hand, floor, table, etc? Disclosure notes could really help you in this case especially if he ticketed the wrong person. If you were the only one ticketed then bring along friends that were there that witnessed it and like someone else mentioned try to get the guilty one to fess up. I don't know if they would bother ticketing them after all this time, otherwise get someone else that was there to identify the other person as the guilty party. The cop's notes will really help you out and let you know what kind of chance you have. It would help to know more specifics about where/how this went down.

[Casanova.]

deleted

[ji2o0k]

Also who do I ask for the notes the officer took down and when can I ask?

You were issued a ticket and on the back should be an address of the court you are going to...

You can submit your request for disclosure to that address....citing your ticket number etc....


It might be your word against his but look at his notes....did he write that he observed YOU throwing away the bottle....if he noted you, did he note what you were wearing etc...

Hopefully you have pictures of what you were wearing that night...with the date stamp on it...that would go a long way to validating that it wasn't you....

Or even take photos of that area at night (not too dark) and try to show how it is reasonable that the officer might have mistaken you for the one that disposed of the bottle (depending on where the officer was situated, where you situated) etc...if there were bushes, trees etc...

Oh and you can request disclosure any time...the sooner the better after the ticket has been issued...

More info here:
http://www.toronto.ca/court_services/faq.htm

[kindred_99]

The whole things seems strange, I am not saying anything bad about the OP at all, I mean from the cop's perspective. They witnessed someone litter and charge them with possession of an open container instead. We all believe that you're telling the truth but those in the courts likely will not. If it was me I would pin everything on the guy that was actually guilty, tell them that the officer that wrote the ticket didn't even witness the littering, that could be important. Why didn't the officer that witness it write the ticket? Which one of them actually shows up in court, the one that witnessed or the one that wrote the ticket or both? What colour shirt was the other guy wearing? Who was standing where in relation to the street/bushes? Where did the officer see you from, behind? to the left/right? That could prove important as if they saw you from the side it could have been either of you that tossed it if it was fast enough. I'm guessing that the guy tossed it as he walked as opposed to stopping and making it that obvious. It all depends on what the cop(s) wrote in their notes and how they portray it. It is nice to think that being innocent will get you off but that isn't always the case. When is your court date? I would suggest requesting the officer's notes ASAP, I'm not sure how quick or accommodating they are as they might not want to help you with your case.

[studolf]

Here's my opinion:

I'd say dispute it. They'll give you a court date a few months down the road. Now when you show up for court, the prosecutor will offer you a better deal, maybe he'll charge you with a lesser offense; such as littering. You can either take this deal, or choose to appear in front of a judge to challenge the conviction.

[Shaner]

This is a provincial offences ticket that won't ever affect you unless you're applying to become a cop or something along those lines. There's no record that will contain this offence except the one the local police service maintains, and after X number of years it will be wiped out.

I received a similar ticket when I was in college and I still got hired as a Correctional Officer, and have had a couple police interviews, where I was told by the recruiters that it was a non-factor and wouldn't hurt my chances of getting on as a cop.

Even if you're found or if you plead guilty, this will not affect you in any way. So if you don't want to fight it, just go in and explain you're tight on money and are happy to plead guilty for a reduced fine.

[Casanova.]

Here's my opinion:

I'd say dispute it. They'll give you a court date a few months down the road. Now when you show up for court, the prosecutor will offer you a better deal, maybe he'll charge you with a lesser offense; such as littering. You can either take this deal, or choose to appear in front of a judge to challenge the conviction.

Okay the court dates monday. I'm not sure how it all works. So when I go in I meet a prosecutor and not the judge? Also do I tell the prosecutor what happened? then he decides to maybe lessen the deal or charge? I'm okay with this BUT I don't want to have a record which is what why I want to see a judge.

The whole things seems strange, I am not saying anything bad about the OP at all, I mean from the cop's perspective. They witnessed someone litter and charge them with possession of an open container instead. We all believe that you're telling the truth but those in the courts likely will not. If it was me I would pin everything on the guy that was actually guilty, tell them that the officer that wrote the ticket didn't even witness the littering, that could be important. Why didn't the officer that witness it write the ticket? Which one of them actually shows up in court, the one that witnessed or the one that wrote the ticket or both? What colour shirt was the other guy wearing? Who was standing where in relation to the street/bushes? Where did the officer see you from, behind? to the left/right? That could prove important as if they saw you from the side it could have been either of you that tossed it if it was fast enough. I'm guessing that the guy tossed it as he walked as opposed to stopping and making it that obvious. It all depends on what the cop(s) wrote in their notes and how they portray it. It is nice to think that being innocent will get you off but that isn't always the case. When is your court date? I would suggest requesting the officer's notes ASAP, I'm not sure how quick or accommodating they are as they might not want to help you with your case.

Okay so let me clear it up. In the moment I was scared. I've never ever had anything like that happened and last thing I wanted was to start an argument and point fingers. There were two officers that apparently saw it when they pulled up. The driver was the one that wrote me up. The other guy had a purple shirt on (this was at night also so it was dark). We were on the sidewalk and the cruiser was coming towards us. I'm guessing getting the notes at this point is to late? Court date is monday.