Sos Yeghiyan was issued a violation ticket for speeding with a ticketed amount of $196 on March 28, 2016. He paid the discounted amount of that traffic ticket on March 31, 2016. On July 13, 2016 Mr. Yeghiyan appeared before Madam Justice Adair in Vancouver and attempted to withdraw his guilty plea. He was not successful.
Madam Justice Adair ruled: In my opinion, and I agree with the Crown in this respect, Mr. Yeghiyan’s lack of diligence in investigating the circumstances before paying the ticket does not amount to the exceptional circumstances that are described in the Staples case in order to justify my exercising my discretion in Mr. Yeghiyan’s favour and allowing him to withdraw his guilty plea.
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Thanks for posting this one; a lot of these 'Reasons for Judgment' can be kind of dry and maybe boring.
But this judgment was succinct and - dare I say it - entertaining.
He fought the law, and ... the law won.
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During the couple of years (1997 - 1999) when I was working for ICBC as a Driver Examiner, I was surprised at the number of individuals who came in waving that blue piece of paper, wanting to know how to fight it; particularly as it seemed evident from a short conversation that many seemed to realize that they were in fact guilty, but figured (perhaps on advice from friends) that there would be a good chance the cop wouldn't show up, and the case would be dismissed.
Then again, it happened to me one night in the early 80's that I was waiting, first one in line, for the light to turn green; I was aware of the cars behind me, including the marked police car.
So although I accelerated briskly off the line (and my vehicle was kind of loud), I chopped the throttle at 50 km/h; and almost simultaneously the red and blue lights turned on in my mirrors. We conversed, of course, and as soon as the officer informed me that he was going to issue a speeding ticket, I asked what on earth he was basing that on; he advised that it was from reading his supposedly calibrated speedometer.
I was probably a bit brusque, and perhaps a little condescending, as I pointed out where we were pulled over (less than a 100 meters from the intersection we had commenced from) when I told him there was no way he could make that charge stick; and that if he wanted to waste his time, I would certainly fight the ticket, and he would lose the case. None the less, he had an attitude of his own and proceded to write the paper.
Fast forward a couple of months, and I'm wasting my morning in Traffic Court. The cop, perhaps unsurprisingly, never showed up. Judge Paradis, preciding, then dismissed the case.
As I stood up to leave, I quietly remarked to the judge and all present 'But I had such a great argument!' and shook my head as I headed for the exit.
As I reached the door on the way out, Judge Paradis called out 'Mr Hodgson', and I turned around.
'Don't worry', he said. 'You can always use your story next time!'
Made me smile, then and now.
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You can hear the crash of the gavel in that one!