So, I made one of the most forgetful mistakes I've made in my life, I missed my court date!!

I was passing a cop this morning and it just clicked "Feb. 14th wasn't a day for love, it was my day in court" followed by some loud obscenities that could be heard by airplanes passing by!! I got 3 tickets from a cop almost a year ago, all bogus ones that were getting thrown out (said the cop himself). They were no front plate (It got knocked off and was in my back seat), no proof of insurance (I didn't put my new slip in my wallet) and a blue plate cover on the back.

So am I truly screwed here or can I get a new court date somehow? I'm so pissed off at myself, I can't believe I forgot.

Maybe with the bad weather, you might be able to bed for forgiveness. Its not 12:30 on the 16th. Did you call the courthouse yesterday ( the 15th) and explain your situation.

S.

you'll have to go the court house somewhere on elm st downtown(the ticket place should be able to tell you where).explain to a judge the reason why you miss the court date and show supporting doc.in your case,you'll have to be pretty creative to get out of this one.

The big thing is, admit to it. If you try to avoid it, it will be worse.

Everyone makes mistakes, everyone forgets. If you at least admit to it, they will work out something. It shows that you WANTED to go, and WERE GOING to go, but you forgot about it.

You're not the first in this situation.

it happens to the best of us.. but in an ex parte case you've been found guilty on all charges. Best bet is to go to the judge and just tell him the truth.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I didn't wait long, I went in at 2pm yesterday, had to write out a 5 page novel for each of the 3 tickets. After that, I was sent upstairs to talk to the worst and least personable JP in my life. I told him that I was caught in the snow storm in Hamilton and it worked.

August 10th, anyone care to write that down in their calendar and remind me of it, that would be great LOL.

So the answer is you can appeal to have your case re-opened, you just need a snow storm as the reason (thank you mother nature!)

Almost a year ago? The Askov limit is 9 months. It is your right under the Charter to a speedy trial, the Askov limit sets that at 9 months. If you are on trial for anything and you don't get to court within 9 months you can challenge it on that alone to get the charges thrown out. This of course assumes you never aggreed to a delay at all.

Mike, i'm assuming that the Askov limit you refer to is a limit that was decided by some judge during some case involving a guy named Askov? What do ou need to say, or bring as reference to use this to have the charges thrown out?

It was closer to just over 1/2 a year I suppose, 7.5 months. With the new date, that puts me over a year, but seeing as it was my fault that it has gotten pushed back so far, I don't think I can use the Askov limit. All of them should get thrown out, it was an end of the month blitz. The cop told me to take a picture of the front and rear plate (with the front plate on and the rear cover off) as well as show him I had insurance at the time, and they'd throw it out.

Time will tell. Now that I'm older and .. older, I don't drive in manners that would get me a big fat ticket. I just get these stupid little ones that take up my time and sometimes money.

The Askov case, or a slightly more recent R vs. Morin. Does say you need to be tried in a reasonable amount of time. I'm not aware if nature affects it any. Afterall. Its not like he has been arrested, and is sitting in jail. He got a ticket, he can still drive. Whats the injustice here being caused by the time it takes to come to trial....

That being said. Its definitely worth asking for a stay of preceding, under section 11b of the charter of rights and freedoms. Worst case they will say no, and you're back where you are now.
S.

I tried that with my last parking ticket. Mentioned that over a year was beyond a 'reasonable time' (didn't know a case to quote, though). This actually stopped the judge and prosecutor in their tracks for a good 10 minutes, but they both said they knew of nothing that set this as a precedent.