Bail

Bail is one of the most important steps that must be taken in every criminal case. It is much easier to defend a case when the client is not in custody so getting bail is very important. Additionally, jail is not a safe place necessarily, and getting released from the jail holding institutions will be a definite improvement in your safety and the mental well being of the family as well as the alleged offenders situation.

disclosure

In all criminal cases some sort of evidence is produced. This can be victim statements, witness statements, video statements, video of the scene, medical records, etc. The list is very long as to the types of evidence that will or can be gathered by the police. what is important though is that all of this evidence must be disclosed to the defendant or person charged.

There are some privacy issues relating to the disclosure so counsel can not just hand it over to anyone, even the defendant. As counsel I must sign undertakings relating to the disclosure and can not give it to anyone else. This protects the identity of the persons who gave statements.

Often, the crown will give out what they call initial disclosure. This is the bare bones of the evidence and further disclosure is usually provided after some time. It may be that counsel will have to request further disclosure and sometimes the crown will not agree that the disclosure is properly requested or that it is not relevant. At times a Judge may have to get involved to either order the crown to provide the disclosure or to say it is not apparently relevant. It can also be the case that some types of disclosure are privileged and require a third party records application to get access to the disclosure.

We are not allowed to have trials by surprise in Canada and thats why full disclosure is the law. There can be times when the crown is slow getting the disclosure, and the clock which controls how long it should take to get trial continues to run. This delay is the responsibility of the crown and if it passes a certain threshold, your case can possibly be thrown out for delay. The time lines have recently been changed by the Supreme Court and usually the crown can comply without the delay becoming so serious that the charges are thrown out.

Inside the disclosure is a form called the charge screening form. This form is where the crown puts down its initial position regarding disposition of the case. For example the crown may indicate peace bond, fine, jail or any other type of sentence they are proposing. The form will also indicate whether they are proceeding summarily or by indictment. summarily means less serious and by indictment is more serious,with longer potential sentences and the possibility of having a jury trial after a preliminary hearing. .

youth court

The criminal justice system can be difficult to navigate and understand for young people and their parents. There are often options and methods of proceeding that competent counsel can assist with to improve the resulting outcome as well as to reduce the impact on the client and their family. It is important to get advise on the options even if you are not certain of the outcome or how to go about starting the investigation into those options. I will provide an opportunity to discuss those options for free prior to any need for money to be spent or applications to legal aid to be made. This will allow the young person and parents to make informed decisions about how to proceed right from the start.

I have 25 years of experience in youth matters before all of the courts of the greater Toronto area and most of southern Ontario, and have dealt with all types of offences successfully.

what the crown thinks

The crown in Canada owns the charges once the police lay the charge. They are the only ones who can determine to proceed or withdraw the charges. It is not like on television where the victim tells the police or crown that they do not want to proceed and the charges are withdrawn. In Canada, The crown must apply a test of reasonable prospect of conviction when reviewing the charges to see if they should proceed. If the case has difficulties with evidence that may reasonably be available for trial, they ought to withdraw the charge at that stage. This does not happen that often but it does happen.

If the crown decides to proceed, that decision is entirely up to them. Sending letters to the crown from the victim for example in a domestic case, asking the charges not to proceed will be unlikely to get the crown to change their position, but will simply identify for them that the alleged victim is not onside with their position and will ensure a subpoena issues.

A subpoena is an official court form that the police get from a justice of the peace or judge to require a witness of victim to attend court when the subpoena says, for example usually the day of trial. The supeana must be served on the person or left with someone at the place of residence. If a person under subpoena does not come to the court the crown can get an adjournment of the case quite easily. If there is no subpoena the crown may still get an adjournment but the court may also deny that request.

In more serious cases the crown may seek a material witness warrant where they believe the person is evading service of a subpoena. This means, if granted by the court, that the person will be arrested if found and then released usually with a promise to attend on the date specified. A failure to attend on that date may result in charges of failing to comply with the court order to attend although that is unusual.

legal aid

legal aid is a system of payments to lawyers who qualify to be on the criminal panel and who state they are willing to take legal aid instead of a private retainer. Once counsel takes legal aid they are not allowed to take money from the client as well. It is one or the other and if counsel suggest you can do both, you should find another lawyer.

There are qualifications that must be met to get legal aid. these qualifications change often and clients are advised to contact legal aid directly to find out if they can qualify. That process generally takes several weeks and may require you to show bank statements and other sources of income. The crown will also provide a charge screening form which identifies what type of sentence the crown is seeking. If the crown is not seeking jail then legal aid may be denied. this is not a total rule but it is an important consideration for legal aid so the charge screening form should be requested on the first appearance at court. You may need to meet with a duty counsel at the court to have them review your disclosure and charge screening form to make a determination of eligibility.

If your financial status changes during the time it takes for your case to proceed, counsel are required to notify legal aid who may then say you are no longer eligible for legal aid. This is unusual but not unheard of, so you should be aware.

If you are a young person (under 18) and face charges, legal aid may try to make your parents pay for your lawyer rather than granting legal aid. The parents in such a situation can take a tough stand and tell legal aid that the youth got themselves into this problem and that they are not paying for it. Ultimately, a legal aid certificate will likely be granted in these circumstances although it may take a bit longer. Sometimes a s. 25 order may be required where the counsel chosen make an application to a judge to grant the legal aid. These s. 25 orders are done often and are fairly routine.

If new charges arise after legal aid has been granted then counsel can apply to have the legal aid certificate amended to include the new charges. This is also routinely done.

what to expect

The court process is difficult and nothing happens quickly. The system is designed to wear down the defendant and hope they say that they want to plead guilty saving the crown having to have a trial.

After your first appearance at court you will be given a package of information called disclosure. The crown is required to provide all evidence they have in their possession relating to the charges and this must be done in a timely fashion.

Once you have your disclosure there are several options. The crown will provide a charge screening form where they tell you what sentence they are looking for on a guilty plea and whether they will be seeking jail as an ultimate end result. Please note that just because the crown is seeking jail, jail may not necessarily be imposed by the judge. That is where the counsel makes arguments to the judge showing why jail is not appropriate and suggests a different result.

If you are not pleading guilty, then the next step is a crown pre trial to determine how long the case will take to have a trial. Usually one or two days will be set aside for the trial. In some cases a judicial pre trial will be required before a trial date is set. All of these steps take time and must be scheduled ahead of time.

It may also be the case that the disclosure is incomplete and further disclosure must be ordered by the defence or provided as it is received by the crown. You will not be required to set the trial date until the disclosure is complete usually.

It is important to understand that counsel has an obligation to only assist in a guilty plea if the client is guilty. A guilty plea can not be entered where the defendant is not guilty but wants to plead because it is convenient. Prior to any plea the judge will ask counsel if the plea is an informed plea, meaning counsel has gone through a set of questions with the defendant satisfying themselves that there is sufficient evidence to enter the plea and that it is being done voluntarily. this step is required by the criminal code now as well as the rules of practice for all counsel laid down by the law society.

duty counsel contact numbers

2201 finch crt 416-597-5890

311 jarvis crt 416-598-0200 x4360/4361

Barrie crt 1-705-756-4960

Brampton crt 905-456-4700x 5672/5671fax 905-455-9596 email dcc.brampton@lao.0n.ca

Brantford 1-519-756-4700 x22/fax1-519-756-4643

College park cert 416-598-1260/fax 416-598-5614

1000 finch crt 416-663-5560/ fax 416663-3343/trial coord 416-314-4208

Guelph crt 1-519-767-1514 / 1519-826-4431 x 228/ fax 1-905-767-9075

Hamilton crt 1-905-645-5252 x 3616/ fax 1-905-667-8998

Kingston crt 1-613-531-0504 fax 1-613-531-3014

Kitchener crt 1-519-579-0869

London crt 1-519-660-5095

Milton crt 905-864-8616/ 905-878-6878 / fax 905-864-6869

Newmarket crt 1-905-895-8778/1-905-836-8580 / fax 1-905-895-7068

Old city hall crt 416-594-9300 / fax 416-594-9345 email och-dc@lao.on.ca

Orangeville crt 1-519-941-8440

Oshawa crt 1-905-723-2572

Ottawa crt 1-613-238-7931 x 50 / fax 1-613-236-5229

Peterborough crt 1-705-743-5430

Scarborough crt 416-757-6257 / fax 416-757-4374

St. catherines crt 1-905-685-8695 / fax 1-905-988-5635