With all the traffic ticket questions surprise this hasn't been posted yet. I learn something new too when accepted a plea deal, just say guilty and nothing else or the judge may not accept your plea. Sounds like if you have the time it worth going down to court, at the least you should get offer a reduced fine 
Cutting a deal in city traffic court
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/584484
Peter Small
COURTS BUREAU
Daniel Peters stands in front of Justice of the Peace William Ross and pleads guilty to disobeying a traffic sign.
But before the JP accepts his plea, the lanky salesman tries to explain what happened when he turned left onto Edward St. from Bay St. in downtown Toronto.
He couldn't see the two no-left-turn signs because a bus and tree were blocking his view, he insists.
"I've seen a lot of people fall into the trap," the 30-year-old Brampton man tells the justice of the peace, adding that city ought to do something about it.
The grey-haired, soft-spoken JP, who has been patient with dozens of traffic miscreants this particular morning, looks momentarily pained. He tells Peters he cannot accept his guilty plea. "You have to come back another day."
Welcome to Toronto traffic court, where thousands of people come to dispute their tickets or plead guilty, hoping for a deal.
What they often get is a crash course in the justice system.
In the hallway outside the courtroom, prosecutor Jeannette Markle tells Peters why he blew his guilty plea. Not seeing a sign is no excuse, she says. "It's up to you as a driver to see every sign."
He looks puzzled.
"I only wanted to make sure the situation is better," he says.
The JP took his explanation as a de facto defence, it seems.
Now he has to come back in March to either plead not guilty and have a full trial, risking a maximum $500 fine instead of the $60 fine he was offered by the prosecutor, or plead guilty again.
"I feel like we're kind of being pushed like cattle," says Peters, who asked that his "professional" name rather than his real name be used.
Last year, Toronto's court services handled 625,000 traffic charges. About half the people charged asked for a trial date, says Barry Randell, director of Toronto's court services. "It's the court where more people go than any other."
Every day, a half-hour before court opens, city prosecutors Markle and Valerie Hawkes sit behind a table in the hallway outside Court H, at Old City Hall, one of three courthouses dealing with Toronto traffic matters. On this day, more than 100 people – in two shifts – are on the docket. Many want to speak to the prosecutors, as do several paralegals. Matters move quickly.
"Were you going faster than 40 km/h?" Markle asks a woman.
"Yes," the woman says.
"I can reduce it to no-points, okay?" she asks.
The woman accepts. Next person.
A man insists he didn't run a red light. "I feel strongly it was a yellow light," he tells Hawkes.
"Are you aware that yellow lights are the same as the red light?" Hawkes asks.
Markle offers a tall young man named Christopher Brown a reduced speed of 55 km/h in a 40 zone. He accepts.
Then she asks about his two other charges: driving without proof of ownership or insurance. Brown explains that he was driving his dad's car, which was so messy he couldn't find the papers.
"When I got home my father said, 'Oh here they are,' " Brown says.
Markle says she can withdraw those two charges. A 10-year-veteran of Toronto court service prosecutions, Markle says her first priority is to find out whether a person is pleading guilty or not. "A lot of times people come here and say, `Tell me what to do.' I say, `You have to tell me what you want to do.'"
By agreeing to plead guilty, they are taking responsibility for their actions, she says, and at this point the prosecutors can allow them to plead guilty to a lesser infraction or at least pay a lower fine.
Hawkes, who started as a municipal prosecutor last June, says most people come without legal representation. "So we try to tell them their options right up front. Even though it's a simple process, it's still intimidating."
Inside the courtroom, as proceedings begin, nearly every bench is filled. Several paralegals step up first, quickly and efficiently dealing with two or three cases at a time.
Then come the ordinary folks, some stumbling, unsure, in what is often a comedy of errors.
Language barriers abound.
Although translators are provided upon request, some people who haven't mastered English plow on without their help.
It can lead to misunderstandings.
When the JP asks one man if he is being forced to plead guilty, he answers, "Yes."
"Are you being forced?" Ross asks, eyebrows raised.
"No, sir," quickly amends the man, in heavily accented English, when he realizes what he has done.
Brown stands and pleads guilty to driving 55 kilometres in a 40 zone and is fined $45. As arranged, Markle withdraws the charges of driving without proof of ownership or insurance. Outside court, Brown calls the process a waste of time and taxpayers' money. Why did the police officer charge him with failing to provide the documents if the counts were going to be dropped in court, he asks.
Cutting a deal in city traffic court
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/584484
Peter Small
COURTS BUREAU
Daniel Peters stands in front of Justice of the Peace William Ross and pleads guilty to disobeying a traffic sign.
But before the JP accepts his plea, the lanky salesman tries to explain what happened when he turned left onto Edward St. from Bay St. in downtown Toronto.
He couldn't see the two no-left-turn signs because a bus and tree were blocking his view, he insists.
"I've seen a lot of people fall into the trap," the 30-year-old Brampton man tells the justice of the peace, adding that city ought to do something about it.
The grey-haired, soft-spoken JP, who has been patient with dozens of traffic miscreants this particular morning, looks momentarily pained. He tells Peters he cannot accept his guilty plea. "You have to come back another day."
Welcome to Toronto traffic court, where thousands of people come to dispute their tickets or plead guilty, hoping for a deal.
What they often get is a crash course in the justice system.
In the hallway outside the courtroom, prosecutor Jeannette Markle tells Peters why he blew his guilty plea. Not seeing a sign is no excuse, she says. "It's up to you as a driver to see every sign."
He looks puzzled.
"I only wanted to make sure the situation is better," he says.
The JP took his explanation as a de facto defence, it seems.
Now he has to come back in March to either plead not guilty and have a full trial, risking a maximum $500 fine instead of the $60 fine he was offered by the prosecutor, or plead guilty again.
"I feel like we're kind of being pushed like cattle," says Peters, who asked that his "professional" name rather than his real name be used.
Last year, Toronto's court services handled 625,000 traffic charges. About half the people charged asked for a trial date, says Barry Randell, director of Toronto's court services. "It's the court where more people go than any other."
Every day, a half-hour before court opens, city prosecutors Markle and Valerie Hawkes sit behind a table in the hallway outside Court H, at Old City Hall, one of three courthouses dealing with Toronto traffic matters. On this day, more than 100 people – in two shifts – are on the docket. Many want to speak to the prosecutors, as do several paralegals. Matters move quickly.
"Were you going faster than 40 km/h?" Markle asks a woman.
"Yes," the woman says.
"I can reduce it to no-points, okay?" she asks.
The woman accepts. Next person.
A man insists he didn't run a red light. "I feel strongly it was a yellow light," he tells Hawkes.
"Are you aware that yellow lights are the same as the red light?" Hawkes asks.
Markle offers a tall young man named Christopher Brown a reduced speed of 55 km/h in a 40 zone. He accepts.
Then she asks about his two other charges: driving without proof of ownership or insurance. Brown explains that he was driving his dad's car, which was so messy he couldn't find the papers.
"When I got home my father said, 'Oh here they are,' " Brown says.
Markle says she can withdraw those two charges. A 10-year-veteran of Toronto court service prosecutions, Markle says her first priority is to find out whether a person is pleading guilty or not. "A lot of times people come here and say, `Tell me what to do.' I say, `You have to tell me what you want to do.'"
By agreeing to plead guilty, they are taking responsibility for their actions, she says, and at this point the prosecutors can allow them to plead guilty to a lesser infraction or at least pay a lower fine.
Hawkes, who started as a municipal prosecutor last June, says most people come without legal representation. "So we try to tell them their options right up front. Even though it's a simple process, it's still intimidating."
Inside the courtroom, as proceedings begin, nearly every bench is filled. Several paralegals step up first, quickly and efficiently dealing with two or three cases at a time.
Then come the ordinary folks, some stumbling, unsure, in what is often a comedy of errors.
Language barriers abound.
Although translators are provided upon request, some people who haven't mastered English plow on without their help.
It can lead to misunderstandings.
When the JP asks one man if he is being forced to plead guilty, he answers, "Yes."
"Are you being forced?" Ross asks, eyebrows raised.
"No, sir," quickly amends the man, in heavily accented English, when he realizes what he has done.
Brown stands and pleads guilty to driving 55 kilometres in a 40 zone and is fined $45. As arranged, Markle withdraws the charges of driving without proof of ownership or insurance. Outside court, Brown calls the process a waste of time and taxpayers' money. Why did the police officer charge him with failing to provide the documents if the counts were going to be dropped in court, he asks.
