Im 17 and have to go to court for Careless Driving

[Jordan_123]

What is the name of your state? Ontario, Canada

I am sentenced to court for Careless driving. I did a powerslide in a 30 zone, on a turn. The tires squealed. Two men came out of their house and told me to park in their driveway because they called the cops. The cops came, wrote down my info, then suddenly left for an emergency. I was instructed to go back to school, then go to their office directly after school. As soon as i walked in they handed me 3 tickets, one for failure to surrender my insurance, one for failure to surrender ownership of vehicle, and the other was sentencing me to court. I went back and showed them my insurance and ownership, because they were not in the car when they talked to me when I did the powerslide. Don't I have 24 hours to show them? Now I must go to court. There were 4 of my friends in the car with me. Should I plead not guilty, since the cops did not see me? I do not know whether witnesses will go to court to testify against me. Should I get a lawyer? Should I bring my friends as witnesses?

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally Posted by Jordan_123

What is the name of your state? Ontario, Canada

I am sentenced to court for Careless driving. I did a powerslide in a 30 zone, on a turn. The tires squealed. Two men came out of their house and told me to park in their driveway because they called the cops. The cops came, wrote down my info, then suddenly left for an emergency. I was instructed to go back to school, then go to their office directly after school. As soon as i walked in they handed me 3 tickets, one for failure to surrender my insurance, one for failure to surrender ownership of vehicle, and the other was sentencing me to court. I went back and showed them my insurance and ownership, because they were not in the car when they talked to me when I did the powerslide. Don't I have 24 hours to show them? Now I must go to court. There were 4 of my friends in the car with me. Should I plead not guilty, since the cops did not see me? I do not know whether witnesses will go to court to testify against me. Should I get a lawyer? Should I bring my friends as witnesses?

My response:

Does "Ontario, Canada" sound like a State, or the United States, to you?

IAAL

[jity]

Two men came out of their house and told me to park in their driveway because they called the cops.

And you actually listened to them???? I would have fled taken my chances somewhere else.

[Bcar1463]

Although the law may be different in Canada, I was in a similar situation a few years ago. In US court, the people who called the cops with the complaint need to show up at court and testify against you, the cops can't testify about what they didn't see with their own eyes. The insurance and proof of ownership should be dismissed when you show you have it. Just a question, why did you listen to the guys and wait for the cops to show up? Not saying you should have sped away like crazy, but the guys don't have any legal authority to make you do so. If the guys do show up, you will probably need a lawyer to have any sort of a prayer. If they don't, the case *should* be either dismissed or continued. What exactly are your friends going to say as witnesses? If they tell the truth they will support the prosecution... If I were you I would go for some type of deferment program or driving school, (I ended up with community service.)

***disclaimer, all this assumes reasonable similarity between US and Canadian laws in this area.

[Jordan_123]

I have my g2. Will it get suspended? if so for how long? This is also my first offence for anything, will that have any say in anything?