In a decision destined to dash the dreams of leadfooted armchair lawyers, British Columbia’s top court has thrown cold water on the commonly-held myth a poorly written speeding ticket is an automatic get-out-of-jail-free card.
In a ruling released this week, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned a lower court victory for a man who was able to quash a speeding ticket because it didn’t identify exactly which traffic control device he failed to obey.
In a unanimous decision, the three appeal court judges said assessing a ticket’s “sufficiency” involves “considering not only the ticket’s wording but all materials in the accused’s possession” — including what an officer said when the ticket was issued.
And even if that weren’t the case, the top court says the Judicial Justices of the Peace who preside over traffic court have the power to amend tickets before trial.
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Vancouver lawyer Kyla Lee highlighted the decision in a blog.
“It will crush a lot of home lawyers or people who were looking for an easy way out of their tickets,” she told CBC.
“It’s a commonly held misconception that a mistake on a violation ticket can lead to the ticket being thrown out.”
Lee says the type of errors that would actually get a ticket thrown out include problems with the time, date or location of the offence — “that strike at the core of the allegation, or if the wrong section was charged entirely.”
The appeal court ultimately set aside the order quashing Robinson’s ticket and restored his provincial court conviction.
Lee wasn’t surprised.
“There’s definitely a myth that tickets can be thrown out due to minor errors. I’m not sure how the myth got perpetuated, because I’ve never seen anything that would suggest otherwise,” she said.
Lee says the only basis she can think of comes from the United States, where some jurisdictions are very particular about the details of traffic tickets.
“Unfortunately what we get often in our Canadian legal system is the permeation of U.S. ideas about how justice is to be delivered,” she says.
“But that doesn’t fly in Canadian courts.”
