I’m sure you’re going to enjoy the unfolding of this case, as it was far from conventional.
I must say that I’m greatly relieved that it is finally over. I was quite emotionally and physically drained by the end of the trial. I still can’t believe that I actually won.
Going into the trial I was giving myself a 30-50% chance of winning. And given that I had not seen one successful dismissal in the 10+ cases argued by defendants the times I was in court, my self-assigned odds were probably a bit unrealistic.
So I will start at the very beginning, with the offence notice.
You will see right away that the alleged offence took place in Ontario, Canada.
I must confess now that I’m a Canadian, but my father, stepmother and two younger brothers are Americans (does that count for anything?
).
Offence no. xxxxxxxxxxx
Certificate of Offence:
I _(Officer)___ believe and certify that on the day of Sept. 19, 2005,
Time: 12:21 p.m.
Name: Defendant
Address: xxxxxxx
Driver’s Lic.: xxxxxxxx
Birthdate: xxxxxxxxx
Motor Vehicle involved: Yes
At: S/B Woolwich St.
Municipality: Guelph
Did commit the offence of: Speeding, 92 km/hr. in a 70 km./hr. zone
Contrary to: Highway Traffic Act
Section: 128
Plate no.: xxxxxxx
Year: 07
Prov: ON
Make: Toyota
Collision involved: N
Witnesses: N
And I further certify that I served an offence notice personally upon the person charged, on the offence date.
Signature of issuing Provincial Offences Officer: xxxxxxxxxxx
Officer no.: xxxx
Platoon: xxx
Unit: xxxx
Set fine: $82.50
Total payable:107.50 (includes costs and applicable victim fine surcharge)
When I first received the notice I just left it be for a few days, not studying it closely.
Then I took a closer look to see if anything might stand out. Something did. The location of the alleged offence. The alleged offence took place just blocks from where I live on a major roadway. The name of the road given for the location didn’t seem right to me. Despite having lived here for about eight years now, I never paid close attention to where Woolwich St. actually ended. I had thought that it ended at an intersection approximately .25 mile to the south.
With great anticipation I made a trip to City Hall to find out for sure. Much to my dismay, I learned that the street did in fact extend beyond the intersection approx. .25 mile, at which point its name changed to King’s Hwy. 6.
So much for that argument…..