Month: February 2014

This week's story is a bit outside the GTA, but is worthy of being covered just because of the enormous number of charges levelled against six individuals. The Ottawa police department had been working with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the past two years to bring down what they are calling a cocaine ring. Whether each individual is facing all 75 charges or whether they are spread out among those arrested is not entirely clear, but the sheer scale of this police operation is staggering. More than 100 officers were involved in the late-January bust. Ottawa…

Following a November conviction of a North York anesthesiologist, the court sentenced him to 10 years in prison today. The doctor and his criminal defence lawyer are filing an appeal for the sexual assault conviction, but not for the sentence. The doctor is accused of sexually assaulting at least 21 women while they underwent surgery at North York General Hospital, but the doctor argues that it would have been impossible for the doctor to have done what he was accused of because there were surgeons, nurses and other medical professionals in the room at the time of the alleged incidents. Had he…

There are certain rights that all Canadian defendants and suspects have, many of which are designed to protect them from inappropriate treatment by the government. This includes police. There are certain things that police officers just can't do to suspects. One of the reasons is because if a suspect talks or admits to something, police want the admission to be of the suspect's own free will. If a court believes that the confession is coerced, it will be thrown out and the officers' behavior will be under close scrutiny. Unfortunately, one man accused of robbery had to go through a police beating…

Though many in the Greater Toronto Area may think a criminal defence lawyer's job is to clear a defendant's name, that is only part of the job. A big part of a defence lawyer's work is protecting his or her client's rights. From police to prosecutors, a defendant's rights could be violated at any time. Working to prevent any such violation and protesting when the defendant's rights are infringed upon is an important part of making sure a defendant gets the fairest trial he or she can. Even when a defendant chooses to plead guilty, it is the defence lawyer's…

An Ontario man was recently sentenced to 100 days in jail, ordered to stay away from alcohol and will not be able to drive for the next 30 months after he was arrested for driving through a red light at the rocket-fast speed of 15 km/h. While no one was injured, Sarnia police insisted on stopping, arresting and charging the man with drunk driving. Many people in Toronto may be surprised that someone could be jailed for driving while impaired. Though many may assume that a conviction for impaired driving is relatively minor, there are far more serious consequences than many…

A late-night ride in Brantford raised some suspicions late last week and now three men are facing drug charges. The three young men were charged with a variety of crimes, including possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000. Members of the Brantford Police Service B.E.A.T. Unit say they smelled marijuana and saw something green in the vehicle as they approached a car they had stopped for driving suspiciously. Officers claim they found 44 grams of marijuana and 24 grams of cocaine in the car…

It can be extremely frightening to be suspected of a crime. To have police question you in an interrogation room can be confusing, stressful and, above all else, terrifying. Even though Ontario police must advise someone being arrested of his or her right to a lawyer, the individual cannot have a lawyer present during interrogation. Though anyone arrested of a crime can speak with a lawyer before the interrogation, he or she must be wise when speaking with police. During that initial conversation, most lawyers will tell an arrestee not to say anything to police. The more an individual says, the more…