just received my court date for dispute
 

so about a year ago, i was drinking at a friends place and decided to drive home after (yes i know, stupid.) anyways, i got followed all the way home and as soon as i pulled into my driveway the cops told me to get off my property, and put me in handcuffs.

they said that they were following me and that i was speeding and i didnt stop for them. they breathalyzed me and i blew a FAIL.

they let me go with a 24 hr suspension, and gave me 3 tickets, 1 for speeding, fail to stop for police, and fail to stop at a stop sign.

i disputed everything but the 24 hr suspension because i was guilty of having alcohol in my system, i have learned my lesson and i have never drink and drive again.

since i disputed, icbc already sent me a letter saying the fail to stop at a stop sign was invalid and has been dropped, so now im awaiting the dispute on the speeding ticket and fail to stop for police.

my question is since i blew a fail and only received a 24 hr suspension, does that mean i got criminally charged or does that mean they can go back and criminally charge me if they want? i never received a 3 month suspension on my license or anything. and the fail to stop for police is that a criminal charge?

If you received a violation ticket for failing to stop for police, it is not criminal, just a Motor Vehicle Act violation.

No, you cannot be criminally charged for driving with a BAC over 80 because the investigators failed to follow through with the investigation by making a breath demand and taking you in for further testing.

Yes, it is possible (but unlikely) that you could be charged by indictment and tried on driving while your ability was impaired by alcohol or a drug. The summary conviction option has passed due to the time involved. I seriously doubt that Crown Counsel would approve the charge.

You are very lucky, even if you are convicted of the speeding and failing to stop.

yes, i am very lucky. Lesson learned, dont drink and drive. havent since. thanks for the help appreciate it.

The police action could have been worse. If they pulled you over before you got home they would have impounded your car which means $140 or more out of your pocket to the tow truck company to release your car 24 hours later.

Always look on the plus side!

so did you really run a stop sign and not pull over? did the kop light the cherries up and attempt to pull you over?

or was that just horse$hit cause the officer was angry?

my court date is next week, if I lose the dispute would I lose my class 5 license for those 2 tickets?

is the cop also allowed to re-issue more tickets at court? if so how likely is that to happen

how likely is that to happen?

As likely as the forecast for Vancouver asks for rain.

If I show up and say I want to pay it but to see if they could reduce the amount, you think the possibility of him re-issuing more tickets is high

Can't really answer without knowing more about the case.

If you are disputing for a reduction in fine, you better have gone to ICBC with that reason and not for the allegation.

if i disputed the allegation and ask for a reduction at court, is that out of the question then

No, you can still do that.... Sort of....

When the JP calls your name, you can stand up and he/she will ask what do you plead, you can plead guilty and ask for a reduction in fine then...

But this is one of those I will be plead guilty things. OR you can do likewise prior to case starting and going to the cop and tell him the same thing....

This may or may not work considering the circumstances of your situation. Who knows, you may have made the cop angry by even disputing. Why did you even dispute?

you never did answer if you actually ran the stop sign and failed to stop for police... or were you too drunk to realize you were being follow by the cops? anyways, regardless, when you go to court, and the cop shows up, just plead guitly and ask for a reduction. I have actually heard someone use being drunk as an excuse in court and the JP reduced their driving without due care fine to like $100... so worst come to worse, tell the JP you were drunk and didnt know the police were following you and didnt see the stop sign... if you're lucky, the cop won't show, then you just plead not guilty and go home.

I could see how the plan A would go horribly wrong and the JP actually raising the fines to the maximum possible.

These are one of those occasions that I wouldn't bother even trying to ask for a reduction. Seriously. It could have gone sooooo much worse.

don't think they can do that since you can't incriminate (sp?) yourself, so admitting you were drunk to the JP should not have a negative effect on your situation

Why can't you incriminate yourself?

By saying you were drunk and you should get a reduction because you didn't realize you were breaking the law should get you an even harsher fine.

wow you badass muddafucka, 3 tickets in one night. nonetheless gl in court.

the reason i disputed was because, i dont know if you're familiar with the street 16th between fraser and main but thats where it happened and the road is so uneven that it would have been impossible to be flying down that street at a high speed. the fail to stop for police i disputed because i was in my driveway when i noticed them with the lights on, they asked me to come off my property and i obeyed their orders.

the reason I dont want to dispute it anymore is because like xplosive said Im a bit worried that the fact i was under the influence is going to make my case a total write off, and i would rather it not get worse. receiving more tickets or something that im not sure would happen. Im just thinking of receiving the worst case scenario thinking the cop would issue me a ticket for reckless driving or driving without due car or something. I would rather just ask for a reduced fine and get it over with.

btw xplosive that fail to stop for stop sign was already dropped. ICBC sent me a letter saying it was invalid.

so you're saying my best bet is to not even bother asking for a reduction, show up, plead guilty and just pay it?

Well, normally, when you plead guilty (though it depends on the JP) there is a reduction in fine. But then again, I haven't really ever seen a case like this before so I cannot speak on how it "normally" happens for these circumstances.

I don't know, maybe talking to the officer before hand would help just to clear the air since you're planning on a guilty plea anyways.

If an officer can chime in, that would probably be good? Skid? Zulu?

If you are foolish enough to testify in court about something that you did wrong, the judge certainly can take that into account!

hmm weird... i'm not making this story up, there was an asian girl that went before me in court, looks like a triad's girlfriend, anyways, she was disputing a few tickets, one was driving without due care, another was driving while prohibited... the JP asked her if she pleaded guilty, and shea said yes, he asked her why she was doing what she was doing, and in very broken english she answered, "i had been drinking that night". so the JP asked her if she promised never to drink & drive again, and she said yes, and he reduced both tickets to minimal amount and that was that... i mean those two tickets and pretty serious, and she admitted she was drunk, driving carelessly while prohibited, and JP gave her a break... i mean doesn't get much worse than that

Ther has to be a lot more to this story.