On 7 October 2020, the case of R v Chouhan was argued before the Supreme Court of Canada. This case dealt with the constitutionality of recent amendments to jury trial procedures, in particular, the elimination of “peremptory challenges” and the elimination of the “rotating triers” procedure. The Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa (DCAO) intervened in […]
Our client was driving. A police officer claimed that she saw him speeding and that she stopped him after following him for five kilometres. According to the officer, she arrested him immediately for impaired driving and demanded that he accompany her to the police station for a breath sample, but he refused to provide the […]
After being charged with several criminal offences I hired Matthew Day to represent me. Matthew was very friendly and he explained every step of the way to me so that I was never wondering what was going on. I was able to continue my daily life as usual while he did all the work. I […]
Michael A. Johnston presented his paper "Johnston on Juries for Junior Jurists" as part of the "Awaiting the Verdict: Are Trials by Jury Still a Thing?" panel at the 28th DCAO / CCLA Criminal Law Conference: "Younger members of the profession start their careers with very little, if any, understanding about trial by jury; the […]
Michael A. Johnston published his article "Should All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men Put the Queen and Her Counsel Back Together Again" in the Criminal Lawyers' Association's magazine, For the Defence (at (2014) 35:3, 21): "In the Superior Court most of us wear wool robes in keeping with the wonderful tradition that if […]
Michael A. Johnston's article "Knockin' On Feeney's Door? A Case Comment on R. v. Cornell" has been published in the Criminal Law Quarterly (at 58:3/4 Crim LQ 379(212)): "This article comments on the Supreme Court's ruling in Cornell, and argues that the decision has not only lowered the standards required to employ a 'dynamic entry' when executing a search warrant, […]
