While driving, our client rear-ended another vehicle. The other occupants told him that the police were on their way. Our client stayed in order to speak to police, believing that he was required to stay and speak with them. When the officers arrived, they spoke to our client, at which point he admitted he was […]
One of our client's friends obtained three tasers. The friend, along with two others, planned to drive around and use the tasers to commit night-time robberies. Our client joined his friends, making it a group of four. Our client never took possession of a taser, never left the vehicle, never assaulted or robbed anyone, and […]
Michael A. Johnston's article "Whelan Still Waiting" has been published in the Criminal Law Quarterly (at (2018), 66 C.L.Q. 19): Patrick Whelan received a "short drop" and died slowly. His procedurally flawed execution was the tragic punctuation to a death sentence passed pursuant to a procedurally flawed trial and appeals. The trial and appeals were, individually […]
In the early hours, our client borrowed a friend's car in order to drive a girl home after a party. For unknown reasons, the girl called the police from a gas station and claimed that our client was holding her against her will. (Our client was never charged with any wrongdoing in this regard.) The […]
On 1 September 2018, Michael A. Johnston submitted a memorandum to Parliament about Bill C-75, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, in particular on the proposed changes to jury selection procedures: Representativeness is, therefore, a shield for an accused person, not a […]
Our client's relationship with his wife began to deteriorate. In the fall, our client was charged with a domestic mischief for breaking some property in the family home. Another law firm represented our client and the charges were dropped after our client entered into a "peace bond," which allowed his wife to revoke his right to attend […]
On a Friday night, our client went to a house party. A former friend sucker-punched our client, who instinctively responded by hitting back with the beer bottle he was holding. That Sunday, a group of young men decided to get revenge on our client for hitting their friend with the beer bottle. The group went to our client's […]
When a defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty after a trial, their case proceeds to a sentencing hearing. At this hearing, the judge must decide what sentence to impose. The judge's decision must be based on the principles of sentencing set out in the Criminal Code and in the case law. The fundamental principle is "proportionality" (that […]
Michael A. Johnston published an article on the Government of Canada's proposed Bill C-75, titled "Challenging trial by jury without cause," in the 4 June 2018 edition of Law Times: Trial by jury is constitutionally entrenched in our criminal justice system, but more subtle is its critical role to our democracy. Jury nullification — the […]
A police officer stopped our client's vehicle at the roadside on suspicion that he had been involved in a hit-and-run incident. During this traffic stop, the officer decided to arrest our client. The officer told out client that he was going to search the vehicle, he asked our client questions, our client cooperated and answered […]
