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A ticket that the officer did not see, and spanned two provinces
Hello!
Traveling back from BC to Alberta today, I passed an RCMP officer, who pulled out behind me and then followed me for about 20 minutes before pulling me over. He told me that someone had reported to the police that I had passed them while crossing a double yellow line. However, he told me that this had occurred just outside of Fernie, which is of course in BC, about an hour before I was pulled over, but he pulled me over in Alberta. I am aware that the RCMP has jurisdiction across provincial borders and there is no issue with that.
He gave me a yellow Violation Ticket for the Province of Alberta. On the ticket, it lists the "place in Alberta" being "at or near" Blairmore. My thought process is that the witness statement is going to say that the violation occurred in Fernie, BC. Also, if I go to court, it would be in Pincher Creek, Alberta. So my main issue here is that my case will be tried in Alberta, although the violation occurred in BC. Since traffic laws are provincial, I am guessing that a judge in one province cannot make judgments on a violation that occurred in another province. Am I correct in that?
Secondly, since the ticket says Blairmore, but the witness statement will say Fernie, will that discrepency be adequate enough to dismiss the charge?
Finally if the case does not get dismissed immediately, and I choose to argue, am I correct in assuming that the witness will need to be present to back up his/her statement? And that if they are present, then the judge will basically have to take their word against mine (barring any photo evidence which I suspect would have been impossible to obtain in such an instance)? Also, the officer said that I would not be able to see the witness statement until it is presented in court. Is that true? If it's true, can I request to read it, ask for an adjournment, and prepare a defense for another day?
Thanks for any help and advice!
My first thought is that the Alberta ticket will never fly. You were at or near Blairmore, but in BC, not Alberta. Remember though, I am not a lawyer and I have almost no experience with Alberta provincial law.
That said, when I look at BC's Provincial Court Act it says:
2(3) The court and every judge have jurisdiction throughout British Columbia to exercise all the power and perform all the duties conferred or imposed on a judge of the Provincial Court, a magistrate, justice or 2 or more justices sitting together, under an enactment of British Columbia or of Canada.
It doesn't say that they have any jurisdiction in Alberta. I would expect that the same thing would be true in Alberta with regard to the BC offence.
You are also correct, the complainant will have to attend court to provide testimony at trial. Generally this must be done in person, but in some cases these days evidence is given by teleconference.
If it were me, I think that the first thing that I would try is contact with the head of the detachment of the officer who wrote you the ticket. I would explain the situation, point out the jurisdiction issue and ask politely that the ticket be cancelled. If the ticket issue was incorrect according to law and they refuse to withdraw or say that you have to attend court to fight it, you may have legal recourse later on.
Of course, you may also wish to consult a lawyer for formal advice on the issue.
If you think about it, please come back here and fill us all in on the outcome.