Disturbing the Peace?

[rizzo]

If anyone can help me it would be extremely well appreciated. I was at home, with my 5 other roomates and we had people over having a social. A neighbour called in a complaint that we were being loud, therefore 4 RCMP officers arrived shortly. They demanded that everybody leave the house right away, but as soon as some of my friends left the officers arrested them and fined them. Therefore I made sure nobody else left and made everyone proceed to the basement. This seems rather strick for having done absolutely nothing wrong. Now I live close to a bar which I cannot fall asleep everynight, but if a neighbour feels like calling on one of my socials, the officers can come over and fine every person's name that is on the lease for disturbing the peace. I mean everybody. $386 each totalling $2316 to be exactly seeing how there is six of us. Now, they did not have a measure of sound or any way what so ever of measuring where the point of disturbing the peace would be. What can I do? Is this worthy of taking to court? This is a lot of money for the little town of antigonish yes, but even more for six students struggling in university trying to make something of themselves.

Please help!

Ryan

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Your remedy is not in a small claims court. In this instance the remedy for you and each of your friends is to fight the charges in the court as prescribed on the summons. Think of this the same as parking tickets. You fight the charges at a hearing in municipal court and there it is decided whether the charge was or was not warranted. If I were your friends I would argue that they did not create the disturbance and that there has been no proof given by the officer that they were in any way responsible for the disturbance. Actually... it is you whom the responsibility might fall upon.

But the real bottom line? It is difficult to answer this question without being able to see the exact wording of the ordinance that is claimed to have been violated and your friends fined.

If anyone can help me it would be extremely well appreciated. I was at home, with my 5 other roomates and we had people over having a social. A neighbour called in a complaint that we were being loud, therefore 4 RCMP officers arrived shortly. They demanded that everybody leave the house right away, but as soon as some of my friends left the officers arrested them and fined them. Therefore I made sure nobody else left and made everyone proceed to the basement. This seems rather strick for having done absolutely nothing wrong. Now I live close to a bar which I cannot fall asleep everynight, but if a neighbour feels like calling on one of my socials, the officers can come over and fine every person's name that is on the lease for disturbing the peace. I mean everybody. $386 each totalling $2316 to be exactly seeing how there is six of us. Now, they did not have a measure of sound or any way what so ever of measuring where the point of disturbing the peace would be. What can I do? Is this worthy of taking to court? This is a lot of money for the little town of antigonish yes, but even more for six students struggling in university trying to make something of themselves.

Please help!

Ryan