Drive Suspend Charge in Ontario. Lesson 4: Police WON’T Show Up
- A lot of clients who’ve been charged with Driving While Under Suspension in Ontario will tell me that they believe the Police Officer will not show up to court.
- It’s a huge mistake to believe this because it’s simply not true.
- In this article, I will give 3 reasons why this belief is false.
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The (misguided) logic- Before I start, let me explain why clients get excited about the potential for the Police officer to not show up to court.
- If your Driving While Under Suspension case goes to trial, then the Police officer that charged you must show up to court to give evidence.
- If the Police Officer does not show up to your trial, then they cannot give evidence. And, you will win your driving while under suspension case.
- So, clients get excited if they believe that the Police will not show up to their trial because they will win their case.
- Now, let me explain the 3 reasons why that will likely not happen.
1/ Your belief may be correct, but it’s not the truth- The Police know that the penalties are very serious when they charge someone with Driving With A Suspended License.
- The Police know that you’re facing, at minimum, a mandatory 6-month driving suspension. And in some cases, you may be going to jail.
- The Police know when they charge you that you are going to be under a lot of stress.
- And that stress may escalate the situation to something that can be volatile.
- In this context, the Police are trained to deescalate the situation.
- And often, the Police may communicate to you that you should not worry, that they may not show up to court.
- Communicating that to you will very likely deescalate the stress from what’s happening.
- So, yes. After you get charged, you may rightly believe that the Police may not show up to a trial, but that is not the truth.
- The Police were simply lowering the stress of the situation.
2/ The Police must show up. It’s their job.- Going to court for the Police is part of their job.
- When a Police Officer lays a charge, in this case, Driving While Suspended in Ontario, if that case goes to trial, the Police Officer will be compelled to show up to court.
- If the Police Officer does not show up to court, there can be serious consequences for that Officer.
3/ The court has the Police Officer’s schedule.- Finally, the courts have the Police Officer’s schedule.
- So if your case does go to trial, when the court sets the trial date, the court will look at the Police Officer’s court schedule and only schedule your trial on a date when that Office is scheduled to be in the court.
- The Police know that the penalties are very serious when they charge someone with Driving With A Suspended License.
- The Police know that you’re facing, at minimum, a mandatory 6-month driving suspension. And in some cases, you may be going to jail.
- The Police know when they charge you that you are going to be under a lot of stress.
- And that stress may escalate the situation to something that can be volatile.
- In this context, the Police are trained to deescalate the situation.
- And often, the Police may communicate to you that you should not worry, that they may not show up to court.
- Communicating that to you will very likely deescalate the stress from what’s happening.
- So, yes. After you get charged, you may rightly believe that the Police may not show up to a trial, but that is not the truth.
- The Police were simply lowering the stress of the situation.
2/ The Police must show up. It’s their job.- Going to court for the Police is part of their job.
- When a Police Officer lays a charge, in this case, Driving While Suspended in Ontario, if that case goes to trial, the Police Officer will be compelled to show up to court.
- If the Police Officer does not show up to court, there can be serious consequences for that Officer.
3/ The court has the Police Officer’s schedule.- Finally, the courts have the Police Officer’s schedule.
- So if your case does go to trial, when the court sets the trial date, the court will look at the Police Officer’s court schedule and only schedule your trial on a date when that Office is scheduled to be in the court.
- Finally, the courts have the Police Officer’s schedule.
- So if your case does go to trial, when the court sets the trial date, the court will look at the Police Officer’s court schedule and only schedule your trial on a date when that Office is scheduled to be in the court.
Bottom line. Don’t make the mistake of believing that the Police Officer won’t show up to your court date.
