Name spelt incorrectly on summons.

insafehands

Hello,

I had a dream. In this dream a friend of mine received a summons. My friend's name is Jon. His license however, says John.

This friend, Jon Smith, received a summons for being a naughty boy. At the time of this naughty incident, when asked for his name, he gave the very nice Garda his ID to use so he can get the full name; making it easier for both of them.

Jon had no intention of trying to deceive the Garda as he wasn't aware of any laws regarding incorrect spelling of a name.

However, it came to Jon's attention that if a name is spelt incorrectly on a summons, naughty Jon may be able to avoid the (minor) charges involved.

The summons Jon received was for a "John Smith" (as on his license).

When Jon goes to court tomorrow, could he argue the name on the summons is wrong? What would happen?

Thank you.

ballooba

The judge will eat you up and spit you out.

Mr. Presentable

Jon should ask his legal representation.

seamus

Jon should definitely ask his legal representation. The court could argue that Jon identified himself as John Smith, and as such the spelling on the fine is valid. The court could also argue that if Jon does not accept that he is John Smith, then he may be in breach of other laws, such as falsifying his details on Government forms, or failing to identify himself to a Garda when requested.

Turner

When your friend brings this point up in court the Judge will turn to the Garda and say "Gard would you like me to ammend the summons?" the Garda will most likely say "please Judge" and the case will continue.

precedents

Get legal representation. Summonses with incorrect names or addresses are not valid. It cannot be misleading on the face of it. In criminal matters there is no room for error on summonses. If as the case is stated as above that the Garda requests the summons be changed. You can state the District Court rules and state that you have not recieved either 21 days notice of the proceedings due to the amended summons, this is the case using reg post or 7 clear days notice being personally served.

johnnyskeleton

Generally, any defect in a summons will be repaired by appearance. A summons' raison d'etre is to get a person into the courts to face charges

cast_iron

Best bet for Jon, would be not to complain too much about the mixup.

When the judge asks why Jon is complaining about the summons, it may well appear to the judge than Jon knew well all along that his license was in fact invalid, as he most likely applied for it under the wrong name. And now he is trying to use it as a get-out clause. If it was purely accidental or a clerical error, the judge may well ask why it hadn't been sorted up to now.

The judge may get very cross with Jon, and give Jon an even bigger punishment that he would have gotten if he didn't appear to be evading punishment for being a naughty boy.

Stabshauptmann

Did you have another dream about what happened in court? How did it go?

Our man in Havana

Best course of action is non appearance followed by a circuit court appeal. No time to fix the defects at that stage.

johnnyskeleton

Bond-007 wrote:

Best course of action is non appearance followed by a circuit court appeal. No time to fix the defects at that stage.

I don't agree. Any hypothetical persons in this situation should seek hypothetical legal advice from a hypothetical solicitor.

Victor

Is the "Smith" part actually sufficient?

Separately if he is know as "Jon" (from Jonathan) and the summons is in the name "Jon", well "doh!".

insafehands

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Did you have another dream about what happened in court? How did it go?

Wow! You know what, I just had part 2 of that dream!

In that dream, Jon went to court and didn't say anything about the name situation. The presiding judge was a very nice fellow and Jon was fined €25 (happy days!).

precedents

And of course a criminal conviction!

precedents

And of course a criminal conviction!