Criminal Defence Law Blog
As Doug Ford targets courts over bail, Zameer case, Ontario chief justice warns of attacks that ‘undermine the legitimacy of the judiciary’ By Jacques Gallant of The Star Ontario’s top judge is warning that attacks on the justice system risk eroding the rule of law and ultimately causing society to fall into disorder, at a …
Continue reading “DOUG FORD HAS TO STAY IN HIS OWN LANE – IF HE EVEN UNDERSTANDS WHAT THAT MEANS.”
An accused person has an absolute right to remain silent. This is a foundational right enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Everyone has this right. In this case this Superior Court Judge decided that because an accused person denied one specific allegation, he must have admitted the rest of the allegations. Our …
By Jacques Gallant of The StarA veteran Crown attorney is being accused of berating a Toronto police officer while suggesting he should have given “false evidence” on the stand. The explosive allegation involves a tense encounter between prosecutor Marnie Goldenberg and Const. Edin Hasanbasic in January, during which she admonished the officer in the hallway …
By Brendan Kennedy of The Star:Justice Clayton Conlan made clear that his decision to throw out first-degree murder charges because of the abuse the accused suffered while awaiting trial at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex was about much more than the violent retribution they and nearly 200 other inmates endured. That treatment over two days in …
per The Star:Police Charter violations persist years after Star found cops violating rights of accused with alarming frequency: reportThe continuing cost of police Charter violations — the most common being unlawful searches and seizures and delaying access to legal counsel — is resulting in people accused of serious crimes seeing charges tossed and the undermining …
The OPP report on the officers’ conduct in the Umar Zameer trial was a repackaging of the evidence already heard by an impartial jury that unanimously rejected the officers’ accounts and acquitted Mr. Zameer. At the conclusion of the trial, the Toronto Police Chief declared that: “we were hoping for a different outcome”. To achieve …
“An Ontario Provincial Police investigation into the conduct of three Toronto police officers who testified at the first-degree murder trial of Umar Zameer has “exonerated” the officers against allegations they lied about the death of their colleague, Const. Jeffrey Northrup. “They’ve been vindicated,” Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said at a news conference on Tuesday. …
Our Supreme Court struck down mandatory registration under the federal sex offender registry. Finally, we have managed to apply the same principles to Ontario’s sex offender registry. According to The Star:“The Supremes found that “mandatory registration is overbroad, since it captures offenders who are not at an increased risk to reoffend” and automatic lifetime registration …
Continue reading “IS ONTARIO’S SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY UNCONSTITUTIONAL?”