summons to witness, do you really have to go? | GTAMotorcycle.com

summons to witness, do you really have to go?

D

ducati rider

Well-known member
so i got this yellow letter. i dont wanna go but the bottom says if i dont go i could get fined and/or jailed.

i was summoned to witness once before along with my bud but he never showed and nothing happened to him. i spoke to a cop too and he even told me "ahh it's just to scare you." that time i was there the defendant just plead guilty so i didn't even get to say anything. wasting my time and parking money.

so...?

ps: cops don't show up all the time and everything is ok so a citizen should be fine no?
 
I got a summons for jury duty. Faxed them a letter that I'd like to be excused because of numerous reasons. Got a phone call in 5 hours that I've been excused. Fairly straight forward.
 
Just call the cop in advance and tell him/her you will be out of the country at the time and can't make it.
 
If it is legit and you don't show up the effect on you would likely be dictated by who was counting on your testimony and how much power they had over making your life miserable.
 
Failure to appear can result in a contempt citation, with the possibility of that occurring dependant upon many different factors. I would recommend going, if for no other reason than it's your civic duty.
 
yeah it was traffic court. turns out i missed it cuz i thought it was on may 28th but it was actually apr 11th. oops.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
Failure to appear can result in a contempt citation, with the possibility of that occurring dependant upon many different factors. I would recommend going, if for no other reason than it's your civic duty.
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They can shove their civic duty up their tailpipe when they try to get me to take days off work to testify in a different city for $40 per day. Oh and I get about a dime a mile for my travel expenses. If it was a criminal matter I would consider it but when it's two money grubbers suing each other over a screwed up construction project it's a different matter.

My first civic duty is to feed my family.

Cynically yours,
 
nobbie48 said:
They can shove their civic duty up their tailpipe when they try to get me to take days off work to testify in a different city for $40 per day. Oh and I get about a dime a mile for my travel expenses. If it was a criminal matter I would consider it but when it's two money grubbers suing each other over a screwed up construction project it's a different matter.

My first civic duty is to feed my family.

Cynically yours,
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You get the standard of justice that you deserve.
 
I hope the people that are proposing you just ignore the date never have to rely on a witness testimony in court for something they need. Whatever happened to doing a good deed every now and again? When did everyone get so damn selfish?
 
Rob MacLennan said:
You get the standard of justice that you deserve.
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When someone hires me to travel to Quebec, then refuses to pay for my services there, then years later expects me to travel to Montreal to testify in a civil matter I think justice was served by my attitude.

They expected to pay the cheapskate rate however since I was considered an expert witness I only agreed to go if they paid their bill with interest and paid my going rate for time, travel and accomodations. They declined the deal and I am off the hook as I responded to the subpoena through my lawyer.

If they had originally paid the bill I would have taken their pittance to subsidize a weekend in Montreal with my wife.

Justice is not served when unethical people manipulate the system. One of the companies involved used local subcontractors to build a hotel and then never paid their bills, putting dozens of locals into bankruptcy.

I have no regrets on my decision. When I give my time away it is to people who deserve it.
 
nobbie48 said:
When someone hires me to travel to Quebec, then refuses to pay for my services there, then years later expects me to travel to Montreal to testify in a civil matter I think justice was served by my attitude.

They expected to pay the cheapskate rate however since I was considered an expert witness I only agreed to go if they paid their bill with interest and paid my going rate for time, travel and accomodations. They declined the deal and I am off the hook as I responded to the subpoena through my lawyer.

If they had originally paid the bill I would have taken their pittance to subsidize a weekend in Montreal with my wife.

Justice is not served when unethical people manipulate the system. One of the companies involved used local subcontractors to build a hotel and then never paid their bills, putting dozens of locals into bankruptcy.

I have no regrets on my decision. When I give my time away it is to people who deserve it.
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If actual hardship is involved, then you have recourse. You don't just 'not show up'; you follow accepted protocol.

If no hardship is involved, then you show up. No ifs, ands, or buts.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
If actual hardship is involved, then you have recourse. You don't just 'not show up'; you follow accepted protocol.

If no hardship is involved, then you show up. No ifs, ands, or buts.
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To clarify to those not familiar with the system: If a sign falls from a building and does damage, a person witnessing the event gets chump change for their time in court whether they are a hot dog vendor or a corporate CEO. That is their civic duty. An engineer called in to testify on why the sign fell gets his professional rate because he is being paid for expert testimony.

In this case I didn't witness anything happening. My professional skills were needed to resolve part of the issue. They wanted to pay the chump change rate and I legally exercised my rights to a fair financial package from one of two greedy corporations, not a poor suffering widow.

A couple of weeks ago I declined invoicing an individual for about a grand in work because he was getting screwed by a manufacturer. He was a really decent guy and I figured he didn't need the added aggravation.

While you think it may be the letter perfect legal thing to do I have no intentions of helping greedy pigs sue greedy corporations at my expense. What I did was both legal and ethical.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
He already missed it.
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I have to chuckle at the attitude here. I agree to appear if I don't have to subsidize a greedy corporation and am made to sound like I'm throwing a starving widow out of her home because I didn't do my civic duty.

If I, like many others here, posted that I got a ticket for a driving offence there would be numerous posts about how to fight it. No one would care that my offence may have endangered a human life. Only a very small percentage would post that I should do my civic duty and plead guilty and save the court time.

I guess GTAM civic duty doesn't apply to the HTA.
 
nobbie48 said:
I have to chuckle at the attitude here. I agree to appear if I don't have to subsidize a greedy corporation and am made to sound like I'm throwing a starving widow out of her home because I didn't do my civic duty.

If I, like many others here, posted that I got a ticket for a driving offence there would be numerous posts about how to fight it. No one would care that my offence may have endangered a human life. Only a very small percentage would post that I should do my civic duty and plead guilty and save the court time.

I guess GTAM civic duty doesn't apply to the HTA.
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lol i kinda have to agree with 48 on this. too many armchair quarterbacks on gtam lol
 
I see it as consistency. You are entitled to your day in court, but also obligated to do your civic duty. Without both, there can be no justice.
 
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