I'm again in Las Vegas for the annual Public Defender's Retreat. This is my fifth time attending this conference. My first year there was less than a handful of Ontario attendees. …
The pocket dial is a common occurrence in the age of smartphones. Most people have made them and most people have received them. In an Oregon city recently, the recipient…
In a special analysis piece published in the Star entitled "Analysis: Why we should worry about who we're jailing", University of Toronto doctoral student Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, explores incarceration statistics and…
In this seminal decision from the Supreme Court, Justice Cory explained how the reasonable doubt standard should be applied in cases of conflicting evidence, specifically on the question of credibility. …
In R. v. Lincoln, 2012 ONCA 542, the appellant, who had been convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime, and breach of probation, was found…
One of the most frequent calls I receive is from a complainant after their significant other has been charged with domestic assault or other domestic related charges asking how they can go…
In R. v. Nguyen, 2012 ONCA 523, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued an endorsement upholding the right of a trial Judge to rely on hearsay evidence at a sentencing…
One of the sentencing options available to a court, provided there is no mandatory minimum and the maximum penalty is not fourteen years or life, is to grant a discharge. …
In my last blog I spoke about the arrest, search, and susbsequent release of Jessie Sansone, without search, as a result of his four year-old daughter drawing a picture of…
This is part one of a two part blog entry where I will be talking about breaches, or specifically the criminal charge of failure to comply with recognizance or undertaking…
