I was charged with careless driving from my accident on July 17th, 2011.
I had my first court date yesterday. My girlfriend also had her court date yesterday for the same charge.
The prosecutor saw her first and offered right away to drop it down to Unsafe Lane Change s.154.(1)(a) with $250 fine which she took.
When he saw me he said "I am not able to offer you an early resolution position other then in the guilty plea to careless we will ask for only 6 months in jail rather than 2 years but there is no guarantee the judge will accept our joint submission and may seek a term between 6 months and 2 years."
I was like "WTF!? I didn't kill or injure anyone, why the hell would you be seeking jail time!?"
He said "Because of your horrible driving record and extensive criminal record."
He showed me some papers with my driving record on it, he pointed at a bunch of retarded stuff from 15 years ago including 255 in an 80, suspended license due to no points left, etc. My record has been super clean for the last 5 years and decently clean in the 5 before that!! Also, my 3 years probation will be up on Nov 1st and assuming I don't screw it up before then that'll be 3 years on probation (with crazy restrictions) and 3 months parole before that, all completed without issue! Don't be holdin that crap against me!
He was asking me to take the guilty plea and I told him to f right off, what are my other options (there were three in total, take the guilty deal, adjournment for a few weeks at MY request to seek legal advice or consider the prosecutors offer and screw any future 11b challenge, or don't enter a plea and ask for a trial date keeping my 11b hopes alive), so I chose "give me a trial date". I got Nov 30, 2011!!!
That's a little quick to make a defense for a case where they are asking for jail time!! yay
Anyway, I asked him if my driving and criminal records were in the disclosure package he handed me and he said they were. After I read through it I realized neither were in there! I tracked him down and asked for a copy and he said "whoops, sorry bout that, fill this out and mail it in."
So, what exactly would I write in the blanks to ask for a copy of the driving and criminal records the prosecutor has in his file? I assume I sign it where it says "signed" at the bottom? I'll fill out my next court date and courtroom, etc.
Is there anything else I should be asking for? The disclosure package is pretty complete, had their sketches of the accident, their notes, reports, etc. statements of the SUV driver, etc. The only thing it didn't have was the photographs the police took, but I'm not sure if you can ask for those in a disclosure request.
And a general question about careless, if I go to my trial and the cop doesn't show, do I get off scott free like a regular speeding ticket? Also, the "witness list" names three police officers:
If even one of those officers don't show, I get off? The person who actually wrote and served me the ticket is the guy at the top of the list.
Thanks for any information you can provide, this is a little trickier then fighting speeding tickets
-Jamie M.
I had my first court date yesterday. My girlfriend also had her court date yesterday for the same charge.
The prosecutor saw her first and offered right away to drop it down to Unsafe Lane Change s.154.(1)(a) with $250 fine which she took.
When he saw me he said "I am not able to offer you an early resolution position other then in the guilty plea to careless we will ask for only 6 months in jail rather than 2 years but there is no guarantee the judge will accept our joint submission and may seek a term between 6 months and 2 years."
I was like "WTF!? I didn't kill or injure anyone, why the hell would you be seeking jail time!?"
He said "Because of your horrible driving record and extensive criminal record."
He showed me some papers with my driving record on it, he pointed at a bunch of retarded stuff from 15 years ago including 255 in an 80, suspended license due to no points left, etc. My record has been super clean for the last 5 years and decently clean in the 5 before that!! Also, my 3 years probation will be up on Nov 1st and assuming I don't screw it up before then that'll be 3 years on probation (with crazy restrictions) and 3 months parole before that, all completed without issue! Don't be holdin that crap against me!
He was asking me to take the guilty plea and I told him to f right off, what are my other options (there were three in total, take the guilty deal, adjournment for a few weeks at MY request to seek legal advice or consider the prosecutors offer and screw any future 11b challenge, or don't enter a plea and ask for a trial date keeping my 11b hopes alive), so I chose "give me a trial date". I got Nov 30, 2011!!!
That's a little quick to make a defense for a case where they are asking for jail time!! yay Anyway, I asked him if my driving and criminal records were in the disclosure package he handed me and he said they were. After I read through it I realized neither were in there! I tracked him down and asked for a copy and he said "whoops, sorry bout that, fill this out and mail it in."
So, what exactly would I write in the blanks to ask for a copy of the driving and criminal records the prosecutor has in his file? I assume I sign it where it says "signed" at the bottom? I'll fill out my next court date and courtroom, etc.
Is there anything else I should be asking for? The disclosure package is pretty complete, had their sketches of the accident, their notes, reports, etc. statements of the SUV driver, etc. The only thing it didn't have was the photographs the police took, but I'm not sure if you can ask for those in a disclosure request.
And a general question about careless, if I go to my trial and the cop doesn't show, do I get off scott free like a regular speeding ticket? Also, the "witness list" names three police officers:
If even one of those officers don't show, I get off? The person who actually wrote and served me the ticket is the guy at the top of the list.
Thanks for any information you can provide, this is a little trickier then fighting speeding tickets
-Jamie M.
