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 […]
A trial is a formal hearing into a regulatory or criminal offence. At a trial, the prosecution is called upon to prove that the defendant is guilty of the offences and the defendant has an opportunity to defend against the prosecution. At the end, the presiding "trier of fact" - either a judge or a jury […]
When he was a teenager, our client began accessing, downloading, and eventually sharing child pornography images and videos. Tips from another country led a Canadian police force to begin monitoring an online chatroom that our client had been using. Investigators identified our client’s Internet Protocol address when he was seventeen years old, but they did […]
Our client suffered from an obvious mental illness that affected his behaviour and his demeanour. When he was a child, he was sexually molested by an adult neighbor - this was the only sexual experience he ever had in his life. By his late fifties, he lived a lonely life and only recently installed […]
Before a case goes to trial, it may involve one or more pre-trial procedures. There are many different kinds of pre-trial procedures, but the two most common are (1) preliminary inquiries and (2) applications to admit or exclude evidence. Preliminary inquiries In some circumstances, a defendant may have the right to hold a preliminary inquiry. This procedure is available […]
Our client and her partner were hanging out with another couple at a residence in downtown Ottawa. The other couple conspired together to lure the victim to the residence because they thought he had "snitched" on their gang. When this other man arrived, he was attacked by one of the men and they fought each other with […]
Our client attended a workplace barbeque. Two of his co-workers, neither of whom liked our client, also attended the barbecue. The co-workers told their boss that while our client was showing them pictures of his ex-girlfriend, a video of child pornography “popped up” on his phone and that he told them the video had come from Facebook. […]
Our client had mental health issues. He posted a request online, asking for someone to use supernatural powers to cause harm to two individuals. The police conducted an undercover operation and our client ultimately asked an undercover officer to cause actual physical harm to the two individuals. Our client was charged with two counts of […]
