Summons to witness letter | GTAMotorcycle.com

Summons to witness letter

R

rakkaus

Well-known member
Hi,

a friend of mine received a letter from court "summons to witness" delivered by an officer regarding a car he sold a while back, apparently the buyer didnt change ownership, and got charged with no insurance, driving under suspension, and other charges.

the court room is like 6-7 hours away from him. will he get into trouble if he didnt show up for this??????
 
Read the letter. Should say something like “failure to appear may result in a fine of up to $2000 upon conviction”. I suggest your friend goes...if it were me, i’d want to make sure the dirtbag didn’t somehow put the blame back on me.

Who knows what lies he/she is capable of.
 
GateKeeper said:
Have him call the court house and see if he can do an online statement, via skype or something similar, I know it's done, but to what extent and under what circumstances

.
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yup, or maybe a sworn, notarized statement

and maybe advise your friend to try and find out more about what happened
if there was an accident and injuries, would want to be very careful how it's handled
 
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Given the distance, it would seem that the courts could use a better approach than show up at court. Definitely worth a call to the court ASAP.
 
I've had a summons to show up. Had to go to Milton from Guelph and got paid mileage plus time because of 'how far away' it was. So for that much distance, your friend will be compensated for their travel.
 
My Boss got one from North Carolina ! 750 miles away.... I coaxed him to call the "Sherrif" and explain , there was no way he could make it.. and they rescinded the document
 
Katatonic said:
I've had a summons to show up. Had to go to Milton from Guelph and got paid mileage plus time because of 'how far away' it was. So for that much distance, your friend will be compensated for their travel.
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I got one and it meant a trip to Montreal for a civil lawsuit. The mileage was pathetic. IIRC I would get paid a few cents per KM and $40 a day for my time. They had to provide accommodation if I was needed a second day but it could be a flea bag hotel. That's the reason why people don't want to get involved.

They actually enclosed a cheque for about $120.00 with the summons.

My lawyer got me off because I was considered an expert witness. I demanded unpaid bills be dealt with and my usual rate and they folded.

If Bill Gates sees a computer fall off a ledge and hit someone he is a casual witness and gets chump change to attend.

If he is summoned to describe the workings of the computer industry he can demand mega bucks.

Your friend seems to be in the casual category and has to deal with the situation. Ignoring it will sooner or later cause him grief.

Check out the above suggestions or enjoy the travel experience.

I'm with Robbo regarding getting dragged into the situation. If big bucks are involved your friend could be held partially liable depending on the situation. Partially liable means picking up part of any damages.
 
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nobbie48 said:
I got one and it meant a trip to Montreal for a civil lawsuit. The mileage was pathetic. IIRC I would get paid a few cents per KM and $40 a day for my time. They had to provide accommodation if I was needed a second day but it could be a flea bag hotel. That's the reason why people don't want to get involved.

They actually enclosed a cheque for about $120.00 with the summons.

My lawyer got me off because I was considered an expert witness. I demanded unpaid bills be dealt with and my usual rate and they folded.

If Bill Gates sees a computer fall off a ledge and hit someone he is a casual witness and gets chump change to attend.

If he is summoned to describe the workings of the computer industry he can demand mega bucks.

Your friend seems to be in the casual category and has to deal with the situation. Ignoring it will sooner or later cause him grief.

Check out the above suggestions or enjoy the travel experience.

I'm with Robbo regarding getting dragged into the situation. If big bucks are involved your friend could be held partially liable depending on the situation. Partially liable means picking up part of any damages.
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It's amazing how much less important you were to their case once they had to pay for you showing up instead of you bearing the majority of the financial burden personally. Most people wouldn't have had the relationship with a lawyer (or the funds) to push back.
 
Re Robbo's comments:

If the only issue is a bunch of HTA charges the impact on the OP's friend will likely be minimal.

However if there was a collision and someone had life altering injuries and was looking for compensation of millions it could get ugly.

If the settlement was 2-3 million the registered owner of the vehicle could be held partially responsible. Ten percent of 2-3 million is worth worrying about. Do not assume anything other than the buyer hasn't a pot to pee in and everyone else will end up paying for his /her problems.

I like to think I'm a nice guy but if I was seriously injured in a crash I would sue everyone I could, OP's friend included.
 
GreyGhost said:
It's amazing how much less important you were to their case once they had to pay for you showing up instead of you bearing the majority of the financial burden personally. Most people wouldn't have had the relationship with a lawyer (or the funds) to push back.
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A general contractor was hired to build a hotel in the middle of nowhere PQ. The local subtrades thought they would get some decent work out of the job but the GC never paid their bills. Instead of making some decent money for a change the locals lost their shirts. People lost their homes. I lost a few grand. Not worth going to PQ to collect due to legal complications.

I have a really decent lawyer. They aren't all nasty and the seemingly nasty ones are usually catering to their nasty clients.
 
nobbie48 said:
Re Robbo's comments:

If the only issue is a bunch of HTA charges the impact on the OP's friend will likely be minimal.

However if there was a collision and someone had life altering injuries and was looking for compensation of millions it could get ugly.

If the settlement was 2-3 million the registered owner of the vehicle could be held partially responsible. Ten percent of 2-3 million is worth worrying about. Do not assume anything other than the buyer hasn't a pot to pee in and everyone else will end up paying for his /her problems.

I like to think I'm a nice guy but if I was seriously injured in a crash I would sue everyone I could, OP's friend included.
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If it is serious then maybe the distance works in your favour? Less likely you're involved in any way.
(Just trying to help you chill a little. Because after reading this, I'd be a little freaked-out.)
 
Seven said:
If it is serious then maybe the distance works in your favour? Less likely you're involved in any way.
(Just trying to help you chill a little. Because after reading this, I'd be a little freaked-out.)
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Courts and lawyers. Which way is the football going to bounce?

There was a post about a crash up the Bruce Peninsula where a mom gave a couple of under 16's some booze. They stole a car from a garage and wrecked it disabling one of the kids. IIRC the garage got the crappy end of the multi-million dollar settlement stick.

Only the paranoid survive.
 
This is highly unusual. A prosecutor is unlikely to call a witness if they have no idea what the witness is going to say ahead of time.
Has your friend had any contact with the prosecutor in this case? Did he previously give a statement to the police?
He has been summonsed so he must appear. If he doesn't the prosecutor can ask for a material witness warrant.
 
nobbie48 said:
I'm with Robbo regarding getting dragged into the situation. If big bucks are involved your friend could be held partially liable depending on the situation. Partially liable means picking up part of any damages.
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As the legally registered owner of the vehicle the friend could be much more than be held *partially* responsible. If the "other charges" involved a collision or personal injury, that could go completely against the registered owner. It has happened before. it will happen again.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
As the legally registered owner of the vehicle the friend could be much more than be held *partially* responsible. If the "other charges" involved a collision or personal injury, that could go completely against the registered owner. It has happened before. it will happen again.
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Did you ever hear how the cases turned out where they added Ford Leasing to the claim? Technically Ford owned the car so they were included in the lawsuit (the vehicle itself was not a factor in the crash, they were just another deep pocket to name).
 
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