PRACTICE AREAS
DRUG OFFENCES
Simple Possession, Trafficking, PPT
Without the assistance of experienced counsel, drug offences can lead to serious jail or prison sentences. They can also have serious implications for employment, immigration, and the ability to travel internationally.
Drug investigations can unfold in a number of different ways - search incident to arrest, traffic stops, search warrants, confidential informants, wiretaps, sniffer dogs, and undercover purchases can all be involved. Often multiple parties are alleged to be involved.
Drug defences often involve alleged Constitutional violations of the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure (Section 8) or arbitrary detention (Section 9).
Trafficking cases also heavily rely on expert evidence.
Call us today to discuss your case, possible defences, and your options.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Assault, Uttering Threats
Domestic Violence allegations can have far-reaching consequences - beyond your freedom and your reputation. Family Court and custody battles are often impacted. After your arrest, you may have issues with securing a residence and/or maintaining employment.
There are options available to assist you in this stressful time, including requesting variations to release conditions prior to a first court appearance. There are alternative resolution avenues, inside and outside of Court, which may result in no criminal record.
If the matter is contested, experienced counsel can help prepare you for Court, and to help you tell your side of the story.
Time is of the essence - contact our office today.
SEXUAL OFFENCES
Sexual offences are one of the most embarrassing and yet serious allegations that can be levelled against a person, regularly resulting in penitentiary sentences.
Although difficult, it is important that a lawyer is contacted at the earliest opportunity. Key evidence may need to be preserved, such as cell phone or social media messages, surveillance recordings, or witness statements.
A lawyer's advice might be to remain silent, or to provide a statement to police, depending on the circumstances.
These are also the most procedurally complex areas to litigate, as many potential defences, and many key pieces of disclosure, require pre-trial motions.
Call our experienced counsel today.
IMPAIRED DRIVING
Impaired Driving allegations have serious consequences - suspended licenses, impounded vehicles. Upon conviction, there are mandatory minimum fines and suspensions. If the allegation has enough aggravating factors, even a first-time offender may receive a jail sentence.
In cases where injuries occur, jail sentences are frequently imposed. Where death is caused, the penitentiary is a common destination.
There are a wide variety of methods in which people are arrested - while driving, while sleeping, by a checkstop, or by a random police stop. Cases can involve a roadside breath sample, breathalyzer samples at a police station or police van, blood samples at a hospital, or Drug Recognition Experts (DREs).
Impaired Driving allegations do not always result in criminal charges. Sometimes they can lead to administrative suspensions, Immediate Roadside Prohibitions (IRPs), or other suspensions by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. You have the right to various hearings, depending on the nature of your suspension - sometimes with the Registrar, sometimes with Driver Fitness, and sometimes with the License Suspension Appeal Board (LSAB). Some suspensions can also be contested in Court.
Driving Impaired law is hotly contested and highly litigated. It is one of the most complex areas of law, with frequent constitutional challenges. The law is highly technical and you need experienced legal counsel to assist. Call us today to discuss your options.
COMPUTER CRIMES
Child Pornography, Internet Luring, Criminal Harassment, Cyberbullying
Technology-based crimes require legal counsel who are familiar with computer science and the nature of the internet. Reputations can be ruined by the mere allegation of the possession of child pornography. Likewise, an understanding of technology is key to cases of harassment over the internet (such as Criminal Harassment or Uttering Threats), or financial crimes like Fraud and Theft.
These offences are often reliant on search warrants from Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and will also regularly rely on searches of an accused person's phone, storage devices or hard drives for files, images, chat logs, etc. Successful defences will often attack the validity of warrants granted under the Charter.
It is imperative you hire competent and experienced counsel to assist you with what are complex areas of law, and ever-changing technology. Judges are often unfamiliar with cloud storage, cookies, internet messaging technology, and other emergent applications. As your counsel, we are prepared to work with you, and if needed, independent experts who can provide the necessary evidentiary background to the Court.
Contact us today to start your case preparation.
WHITE COLLAR CRIMES
Fraud, Theft, Forgery, Uttering Forged Documents
White Collar offences are usually defined as Theft or Fraud, where the victims are customers, clients, investors or employers. These are known at law as Breach of Trust offences. They can range in scope from $100 to millions of dollars. They can involve theft by cashiers, accountants, bookkeepers, managers, and others in positions of responsibility or authority.
Regardless of the amount taken, these cases are different because these offences undermine the public's trust in these relationships, which are necessary for society to function. The Crown Attorney often seeks a jail sentence, even for first offenders.
The evidence in these cases are often voluminous, and can include receipts, bank records, cheques, accountant ledgers, and even surveillance video. You need organized and competent counsel to stay on top of these large files, to provide you the best legal defence possible.
Sentencing proceedings for these offences are often battles. No allegation is minor, and it is important to seek out guidance at the earliest stages. Contact our office today.
HOMICIDE
For thousands of years, it has been recognized that the taking of a human life is the most serious of offences. In Canadian Law, murder results in an automatic life sentence. Manslaughter is the unintentional killing of another person, and the sentences can range from probation to life in prison.
Every case is different, but the skills required of a homicide lawyer are of the highest order. Science frequently comes to the forefront of these cases. Fingerprints, DNA, pathology and blood spatter evidence are no stranger to the properly prepared homicide lawyer.
Our office has a regular practice of defending homicide cases, and we are well-schooled in the available defences. These cases are often tried in front of juries, and our office has the expertise you need in these most stressful, challenging and complex cases.
Call us today.
First Degree Murder, Second Degree Murder, Manslaughter
COURT ORDERS
Protection Orders, Peace Bonds
It is not uncommon when relationships break down, or there are difficulties with neighbours or prior romantic partners, for one party to seek a Court order preventing communication between individuals. It can be difficult to avoid running into another person when you live or work near them, either as neighbours or in a small town or city.
If you are served with a Protection Order under the Domestic Violence and Stalking Act, you only have 20 days to apply to the Court to have the order set aside. You should be retaining a lawyer immediately if you intend to challenge the order.
If you successfully have an order granted as a victim of domestic violence or stalking, if the other person wants to set it aside, you have to proceed to trial. You would be well-served to speak with a lawyer as early in the process as possible. If you miss a Court date, the order may be thrown out.
If you want to get an order under Section 810 of the Criminal Code, or you are seeking to oppose an 810 Order being made against you, the matter will be decided by a trial in front of a Provincial Court Judge. Legal representation can make the difference between winning and losing. Call our office today.