How to Defend Against Assault Charges

R v. P (2024, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with an assault on her step-daughter. The client was a severe alcoholic who was intoxicated at the time when her step-daughter insulted her. She then attacked her step-daughter and ended up biting her on the breast. The step-daughter then reacted and got the better of the client and got her restrained and left several bruises on her face. The client was in alcohol counselling and mental health related counselling for almost 2 years prior to her plea. She ultimately plead guilty to the assault and because of all of her counselling efforts and because she was a foreign national with no status in Canada, the judge agreed in all of the circumstances that she should receive a conditional discharge and no criminal record, which meant that she was allowed to stay in Canada.

R v. S (2024, OCJ Brampton)

Client had been charged with 3 assaults on his spouse and his firearms had been seized as a result. The Crown Attorney was seeking a forfeiture of his firearms because of the nature of the charges. The client did some upfront counselling and the case was adjourned for an extended period of time, after which the Crown Attorney agreed to withdraw the charges and the client was able to transfer his firearms to a family member so that they were not forfeited.

R v. C (2024, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with an assault on his wife. The original allegations were quite serious but his wife provided an affidavit indicating that she had exaggerated the original allegations because she was angry at the thought that the client was having an affair, which he denied. The client did up-front counselling and ultimately plead guilty to an assault but with much less serious facts and received an absolute discharge and no criminal record.

R v. P (2023, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with 4 counts of assault in relation to his wife. Three of the charges were historical in nature. The client suffered from mental health challenges and it was clear that the wife no longer wanted to continue the relationship. The client did some up-front work with his psychiatrist and a counsellor and ultimately plead guilty to one count of assault for a conditional discharge and no criminal record.

R v. H (2023, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with a series of assaults and mischief to property in relation to his wife. He was then later charged with breaching his conditions when he was pulled over by police and was in the presence of his wife and baby. It was his baby’s birthday and his wife wanted them to be together even though his conditions prohibited him from doing so. The client did some up-front counselling and I was able to show the Crown Attorney that his wife had a very serious alcohol problem, and any marks and/or bruises were the result of her falling when intoxicated. Ultimately the client plead guilty to assault and received an absolute discharge and no criminal record.

R v. M (2023, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with assault and assault with a weapon which resulted from a road rage incident. The client had been stopped at a light when a pedestrian mouthed off to him about where he was stopped and the client got out of his vehicle and assaulted the individual and threatened him with a stick of some kind. The client is from Ukraine and this incident was in 2022 and on a day when he was trying to reach his sister in Ukraine to make sure she was safe and had been unable to do so. The client was extremely remorseful and did some up-front counselling and he ultimately received a conditional discharge and no criminal record.

R v. C (2023, OCJ Brampton)

I represented a complainant whose husband was charged with assault and threats. I assisted her in dealing with the Crown Attorney and ensuring that her wishes were clearly communicated. I also communicated with her husband so that he was aware of how she was feeling until the charges were ultimately withdrawn against her husband, which was in accordance with her wishes.

R v. M (2023, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with an assault and mischief in relation to a work incident. The client had been suffering from a work related injury which the employer had not been taking into account. I was able to get the client to do some upfront counselling and provide the Crown Attorney with proof of the workplace injury that had not been accommodated and the charges were withdrawn.

R v. B (2023, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with uttering threats after he had left a message for his ex-wife that he was going to shoot her because of a dispute over their daughter. The Crown Attorney’s position was 90 days in jail because the complainant expressed real fear for her safety because the client was a gun owner who she claimed also had some mental health issues. The client was doing extensive counseling on his own initiative, and at the judicial pre-trial I indicated that he was prepared to voluntarily surrender his guns and not seek to keep his firearms acquisition certificate. This concession went a long way to alleviate the Crown’s concerns and the complainant’s fears and the Crown ultimately agreed to withdraw the charge with the client signing a peace bond.

R v. D (2023, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with assault with a weapon and uttering threats for pointing a knife at her common law partner and allegedly saying that “someone is going to die tonight”. Client suffered from dementia and we were able to provide proof of that to the Crown Attorney, as well as a letter from the complainant indicating that he had no fear of her and all charges were withdrawn.

R v. C (2022, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with a random assault at school but suffered from anxiety and depression. I was able to get medical reports and provide them to the Crown Attorney and a formal treatment plan was created. The client followed the treatment plan and the charge was withdrawn.

R v. M (2022, OCJ Brampton)

Client’s former best friend was dating his sister and neither the client nor his parent’s approved of the relationship. He got drunk one night and sent a series of threatening messages to his former friend and was subsequently charged with uttering threats. He had previously been charged with the same offence and so the Crown Attorney was reluctant to withdraw the charge. However, I was able to convince the Crown that with extensive counselling and information from the friend that he did not want the client in any trouble considering the significant time that had passed, the Crown Attorney ultimately agreed to withdraw the charge.

R v. N (2022, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with assaulting his then girlfriend at a gas station by grabbing her an aggressively pushing her into the car. He was confronted by others who were at the gas stations who then called the police and he was arrested. Two months after the arrest, his girlfriend died of medical complications unrelated to anything my client had done, but the crown attorney was still wanting to proceed with the charge because of the independent witnesses. Following a judicial pre-trial the crown attorney ultimately agreed to withdraw the charge after my client had done some counselling in light of the fact that his girlfriend died while he was on conditions to not have any contact with her and before they had an opportunity to reconcile.

R v. D (2022, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with 2 counts of assault in relation to his former wife. They were going through a separation and divorce but the assaults were quite serious and the crown attorney was seeking 60 days in jail. Ultimately both parties sorted out their differences in the family court (we had been adjourning the case until that happened) and then when everyone was in a better state of mind, the complainant agreed that she had exaggerated her initial allegations and the client plead guilty to 1 count of assault and received a conditional discharge with no criminal record.

R v. M (2022, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with a series of assaults and threats toward both his wife, his daughter and his grand-daughter. They all lived in the same house at the time and when these allegations came to light, the client was moved into a retirement home 2 hours away so that everyone felt safe. Following a judicial pre-trial it became clear that no one wanted to disrupt the current living arrangements, nor did anyone want the retirement home to know about his charges. The client was actively addressing his alcohol addiction at the time and he plead guilty to 2 counts of assault. He then received a $100 fine on each charge and a 1 year common law peace bond that provided conditions requiring him to stay at the retirement home so that his wife, daughter and grand-daughter could continue to feel safe.

R v. B.G. (2022, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with assault with a weapon, assault, break and enter, uttering threats and mischief. The client suspected that his fiancé was cheating on him. She was not answering the phone and so he went over to her apartment, looked in the window and saw her in bed with another man. He then started breaking in to the apartment through the basement window, at which time he was pushed back out of the window. He and the other man then got involved in a scuffle during which he stabbed the other man in the chest, but did not cause substantial injury. He also scratched the word “cheater” into his fiance’s car and threatened to kill both of them. It was clear that neither witness wanted to come to court – the other man was married and did not want anything to do with this situation. I had the client do some up-front counselling and he then plead guilty to 1 count of assault. All other charges were withdrawn and he received a conditional discharge and probation for 6 months with no criminal record. The crown attorney’s original position had been 12 months in jail.

R v. M (2021, OCJ Cayuga)

Client was charged with assault on his ex-wife and later a breach of his release conditions. There were extenuating circumstances involving the incident and alcohol was involved for both parties. The client completed upfront counselling and both charges were withdrawn.

R v. J (2021, OCJ Oshawa)

Client was charged with assault with a weapon after a family dispute in which she stabbed her father in the arm. I was able to show the crown attorney that the father was an abusive parent and spouse and was an untrustworthy witness. The crown attorney ultimately agreed to withdraw the charge and have the client sign a peace bond after she had completed some up-front counselling.

R v. Q (2021, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with assaulting and choking his wife. His wife had been angry at him for some unrelated domestic issues. The client did some up-front counselling and ultimately the wife acknowledged that he had not choked her but had pushed her away and in doing so made contact with her neck. The client plead guilty to the assault while the choking charge was withdrawn and received a conditional discharge with probation and no criminal record.

R v. N (2021, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with 3 counts of choking and 1 count of criminal harassment in relation to his former wife. All of the allegations were historical in nature. I was able to show that there was a very real motive to fabricate on behalf of the complainant and all charges were withdrawn.

R v. C (2021, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with 4 counts of assault against his girlfriend over the span of approximately 2 years. The client’s girlfriend was much older than he was and he tried to end the relationship on a number of occasions in which she did not respond well and the relationship became quite volatile. I was able to convince the crown attorney that at least 2 of the assaults were not viable as a result of the complainant’s statement. My client completed up-front counselling and plead guilty to 2 counts of assault and received a conditional discharge, probation for 9 months and no criminal record.

R v. M. D. (2020, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with assault, assault police, utter threats and causing a disturbance. The incident arose on a flight from England to Canada during which the client had become extremely intoxicated and when arrested assaulted the police. The client had no status here in Canada and was only here for a 1 week visit. Once back in England the client received the mental health care that he needed, I provided a report from both his psychiatrist and his counsellor to the crown attorney and all charges were withdrawn.

R v. C (2019, OCJ Brampton)

The client was charged with a series of historical assaults and criminal harassment. The client’s version was that none of this had happened and that the complainant was upset because he had ended the relationship. The matter was scheduled for trial and partway through my cross-examination of the complainant, it became clear to the crown attorney that the complainant had significant credibility problems and offered my client a peace bond and a withdrawal of all charges, which he accepted.

R. v. T. (2019, Brampton)

Mr. T was charged with assaulting his wife while they were driving in the family vehicle, this was seen by a person in another vehicle. Through counselling by Mr. T and my efforts with the Crown, the charges were withdrawn, and Mr. T signed a peace bond to continue with his counselling.

R. v. S. (2019, Brampton)

Mr. S was charged with an assault on his wife, I was able to show the Crown that, in fact, she had stolen all of the money out of his bank account and was continuing to extort him by alleging this fabricated assault. The Crown reviewed the matter and withdrew the charges after the first appearance in court.

R. v. D. (2019, Brampton)

Mr. D was charged with assaulting police, Mr. D. was heavily intoxicated at the time. Mr. D obtained some independent counselling and wrote letters of apology to the police and the charges were withdrawn.

R. v. K. (2019, Brampton)

Ms. K was charged with mischief to property at her parent’s residence. I arranged for a payment to made to her parents to compensate them for the damage and the charge was withdrawn.

R. v. P. (2019, Brampton)

Mr. P and three of his friends attacked a boy from their school who they felt had acted inappropriately towards one of their sisters. The victim sustained serious injuries and the Crown, despite the young age of the accused persons, felt a jail sentence was warranted. I was able to provide the Crown with the background involving the victim’s actions towards the female and ultimately all four accused persons received a conditional discharge and probation.

R. v. W. (2018, Brampton)

Client was charged with an assault on his adult daughter who had come into the family home late at night; there was a physical struggle and it was alleged that Mr. W assaulted his daughter by hitting her in the face. Mr. W signed a common-law peace bond for a period of six months and the charge against him was withdrawn.

R. v. B. (2018, Brampton)

Mr. B was charged with threatening his spouse, Mr. B obtained some independent counselling, the charge was withdrawn, and he signed a peace bond for six months.

R. v. T. (2018, Brampton)

Client charged with assaulting his wife, Mr. T. obtained independent counselling, the charge was withdrawn and he signed a peace bond.

R. v. B. (2018, Brampton)

Mr. B was charged with an assault on his son, Crown ultimately agreed that the altercation was mutual and withdrew the charge against Mr. B.

R. v. Q. (2018, Brampton)

Mr. Q was charged with assaulting his wife. Crown agreed to allow him to do some counselling, withdrew the charge and had him sign a peace bond.

R. v. R. (2018, Brampton)

Mr. R was charged with an assault on his ex-girlfriend at a bar. I was able to convince the Crown through independent investigation that the ex-girlfriend had driven 45 minutes out of her way to go to the bar because she knew Mr. R was going to be there with his new girlfriend and wanted to confront both of them. There were also text messages that brought into question the truth of the allegations and the Crown withdrew the charge.

R. v. M. (2017, Brampton)

Mr. M was charged with threatening his mother, Mr. M obtained some independent counselling and the Crown withdrew the charge.

R. v. J. (2015, Brampton)

Client charged with causing a disturbance and assault with intent to resist arrest, client had been extremely intoxicated, client received independent counselling, wrote a letter of apology to the police officers and the charges were withdrawn.

R. v. A. (2019, Milton)

Client was charged with assault causing bodily harm for having struck his wife in the ear and damaged her eardrum. The injury was severe, and the Crown was seeking a sentence of 4 to 6 months. I obtained individual counselling for the client, he pled guilty and the judge, rather than send him to jail, gave him a sentence of eighteen months probation and required him to do community service.

R. v. H. (2019, Brampton)

Client was charged with criminal harassment and breach of conditions in relation to a former girlfriend. I showed the Crown a video that completely exonerated my client because it showed him being at work at the time when the complainant said he was harassing her at her workplace. Notwithstanding that, the matter was set down for trial, but on the day of trial was ultimately reviewed by a senior Crown and the charges were withdrawn.

R. v. R. (2019, Brampton)

Client was charged with an assault in relation to his wife, client had a recording of the whole incident. That recording was played for the Crown, but the Crown felt that the matter still needed to go to trial. At trial it became clear to the judge and everyone else in the room that the complainant and her sister had fabricated the incident and that, in fact, they were both the aggressors and my client was merely defending himself. He was found not guilty.

R. v. M. (2019, Brampton)

Client was charged with an assault in relation to his wife. Trial was conducted and it was clear that the wife had fabricated the events. She was caught by me in a series of lies and the client was found not guilty.

R. v. T. (2018, Brampton)

Client was charged with a series of offences in relation to his spouse, including aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats and causing suffering to an animal. All charges had been laid out of spite, the trial commenced, I focused my cross-examination on an incident in which the complainant had lied to the Children’s Aid Society about an assault she had committed on her son and the complainant refused to continue to testify and did not come back to court after the break and all charges were withdrawn by the Crown.

R. v. H. - Assault and Uttering Threats

Client was charged with a domestic assault and uttering threats. My client had been having an affair with the complainant; when he broke off the affair and told the complainant that he was going back to his wife, the complainant came forward with the charges. Prior to this, there had been a threat made by the complainant that unless certain photos were deleted by my client, she would be going to the police. The client showed the complainant that he had deleted the photos, but she still went to the police and he was charged with assault and uttering threats.

I was able to provide the Crown with text messages that raised real doubts about the legitimacy of the charges.

The Crown reviewed the text messages, spoke to the complainant, and ultimately agreed to a peace bond and a withdrawal of all charges.

R. v. S. - Assault

Client was charged with a domestic assault in which he and his wife had gotten into an argument at the top of the stairs. His wife pushed him, he pushed her back, and the two of them ended up tumbling down the stairs together. The complainant contacted the police and did not acknowledge the mutual pushing, but rather said that my client had pushed her down the stairs. By the time the trial date arrived the complainant wanted to reconcile, and additionally had not received a subpoena to come to court. On the day of the trial my client's mother had also just passed away.

A trial date was originally set because the complainant had left with the kids and was saying that she wanted a divorce. We had prepared to have a trial and argue that this incident was the result of a consensual struggle.

The Crown was sympathetic to the circumstances and since the complainant was not at court, she did not have a particularly strong case. The client was offered and accepted a plea to assault. Sentencing was adjourned so he could complete counselling, and ultimately received an absolute discharge. This was a particularly good outcome since the client had received a discharge for an assault on a previous occasion and it avoiding an adjournment of the case and a possible arrest of the complainant for avoiding service of the subpoena.

R. v. E. - Assault

Client was charged with a domestic assault. In her statement to the police, the complainant spent a great deal of time complaining that her husband was allegedly married to another woman in Egypt. She made her complaint to the police while her husband was at the movies with their four children, and he was arrested upon exiting the theatre. The client's position was that there had not been an assault nor was there any second wife in Egypt.

I endeavoured to convince the Crown that given the complainant's belief that he was married to another woman, and that there was no injuries or marks of any kind to support her allegation of assault, that the case against my client was weak at best. I also had the client attend for private counselling and had a report prepared confirming that my client was not a violent person.

The Crown agreed that if the client completed domestic violence counselling, the charge would be withdrawn upon the signing of a peace bond. Charges were withdrawn upon completion of counselling.

R. v. S. - Assault

Client was charged with a domestic assault. Client had returned home and the complainant smelled perfume on him; my client did not want to argue and went downstairs and locked himself in the basement apartment. The complainant then tried to break into the basement apartment, and kept banging on the door and yelling. When the client opened the door, the complainant threw a wrench at him that ended up breaking a window behind him. Ultimately my client lost his cool and slapped her across the face.

I was able to convince the Crown that this was out of character for my client and convinced the Crown to allow him to participate in domestic violence counselling.

At the end of the counselling program, the client received an absolute discharge.

R. v. C. - B & E. Criminal Harassment, Utter Threats, Assault x4

Client was charged with five separate assaults on his girlfriend including an allegation that he broke into her apartment and assaulted her while she was in the shower.

I set the matter for a pre-trial with a judge, and the officer in charge of the case was present. I provided the officer in charge with text messages that showed that the complainant was clearly lying about one of the incidents, and further that she was clearly lying about her alleged fear of my client and had been contacting him repeatedly since his arrest (even though he was banned from contact with her). I encouraged the officer to investigate further.

After further investigation by the officer, the Crown and the officer had real doubts about the truth of any of the allegations and the charges were withdrawn.

R. v. E. (2016 Brampton) - Assault Bodily Harm and Utter Threats

My client was charged with an assault in a coffee shop in which the complainant alleged he pushed him to the ground and repeatedly kicked him in the head when he was down on the floor, causing him to have a concussion.

To convince the Crown that given my client's size in comparison to the complainant, and the assault that was described by the complainant (which was vicious including multiple blows to the head), there would have been some injury. There appeared to be no injuries, and when asked for a copy of the complainant's medical records, the complainant refused to disclose them to the police, likely because he was planning to sue my client. I convinced the Crown to speak to the complainant because there was some suggestion that he had misidentified my client in a photo line-up, and claims he didn't know him even though the complainant had dated my client's wife and had sent my client many direct emails.

Crown withdrew all charges.

R. v. C. (2016 Toronto) - Assault

Domestic incident.

To convince the Crown that even though Mr. C. was charged with an assault, his wife actually suffers from schizophrenia and other mental health issues and that at the time when he was charged with an assault, he was actually responding to something that she had done in relation to the children. He actually called Children's Aid and they then saw a bruise on the wife's arm, called the police, and he was charged. I was able to convince the Crown that having him away from the house and kids was a disastrous outcome, to which the Crown agreed.

Client entered a peace bond and charges were withdrawn on my undertaking that he would participate in counselling following the withdrawal of charges which he did.

R. v. B. ( 2016 Brampton) - Assault

Domestic incident.

To demonstrate that this was completely out of character for my client, and to have him attend several sessions with a counsellor to address the issues leading to the assault. Additionally to have my client make several donations to charitable foundations. Because he was living separately and apart (in a different province) from his spouse there was no need to pursue charges. Crown was very impressed by his counselling efforts.

Client received an absolute discharge on his donation to a charitable foundation of $1500.

R. v. B. (2016 Brampton) - Assault and Forcible Confinement

My client was charged as a result of footage from high school surveillance cameras showing an argument between him and his girlfriend in which he pushed her up against the wall and pointed his finger at her, talking to her and holding her against the wall.

I was able to convince the Crown that these charges were way overblown. There were no injuries to his girlfriend and the whole incident lasted a matter of seconds. Neither the girlfriend nor her parents were in any way interested in coming to court to testify against him.

Ultimately my client attended classes on appropriate relationship behaviour, and the charges were withdrawn.

R. v. Z. (2015 Brampton) - Assault

Family domestic incident between the accused and his mother. Alcohol was a factor in the incident and there was no history of domestic related incidents from either party in the past.

To demonstrate that this incident was out of character for my client and have him attend some counselling sessions.

Charges were withdrawn.

R. v. S. (2015 Brampton) - Assault and Mischief

Domestic incident in which my client was alleged to have damaged property in the shared home with the complainant.

Crown's initial position was jail because of a prior criminal record. I was able to demonstrate to the judge that my client was motivated to get help for both his alcohol and anger issues.

Client plead guilty to the assault charge and the mischief charge was withdrawn. Received probation for one year.

R. v. Z. (2015 Brampton) - Assault

A verbal disagreement over a parking spot resulted in a physical altercation between my client and another party.

To demonstrate that this incident was out of character for my client, and to have him complete an anger management program.

After completing the anger management course on his own, and in light of some potential problems with the witnesses being able to identify my client, the Crown withdrew the charge.

R. v. R. (2015 Brampton) Assault

Following a parking altercation in the parking lot of an elementary school, my client was charged with assault.

To convince the Crown that this was a completely out of character reaction caused by a perceived insult to his wife. I had him attend some counselling sessions and provided a report to the Crown which then allowed them to decide that the charge could be withdrawn upon his further completion of a counselling program on road rage.

Charges were withdrawn.

R. v. Y. (2015 Brampton) - Utter Threats

Client was charged with utter threats after an incident with his girlfriend who he had broken up with. Both ended up at university together from another country and shortly thereafter they both began dating other people. My client texted the complainant threats and said he was on his way over to her dorm room, at which point she felt threatened and called the police.

To show that this was an incident of adolescent drama gone wrong. I was able to show text messages sent by the complainant that were bullying in nature and that included fake photographs of the complainant trying to kill herself. My client was able to receive counselling, and I was able to demonstrate to the Crown that he had received adequate punishment by being kicked out of his program at the school they were attending.

Client entered a peace bond promising not to have any contact with the complainant.

R. v. S. (2014 Brampton) - Assault

Domestic incident.

To convince the Crown that my client was half the size of the complainant. It was clear there had been a bad argument between the two of them and that at the time when he says my client assaulted him, she was actually backed into a corner and felt threatened by him, and felt she had no choice but to strike out at him.

Charges were stayed.

R. v. M.P. - Assault with a Weapon

This was an alleged domestic assault, in which the complainant was the accused person's ex-wife's stepfather. They got into an argument and the stepfather was verbally abusive and the accused struck him with his hand, and then the stepfather threw a glass at him. The stepfather was also charged, but the charges against the stepfather were withdrawn. The accused had a trial date set.

Just prior to the trial date, I had a conversation with the Crown in which it was agreed that if Mr. P did some counselling, the Crown would agree to a peace bond since the charges against the stepfather had been previously withdrawn.

Mr. P attended counselling, entered peace bond, charges withdrawn

R. v. R.K. - Assault, Sexual Assault, Forcible Confinement

Charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement.

To convince the Crown that there was in fact way more to the story than what the complainant had originally told the police because she was married and had a boyfriend and was involved with the accused. We convinced the Crown she needed to speak to the complainant's lawyer and the complainant's lawyer then provided an affidavit to the Crown clarifying that the complainant did not wish in any way to pursue the charges.

Charges were withdrawn, client signed a peace bond.

R. v. S.S. - Assault and Assault with a Weapon

Domestic incident resulting in my client being charged with assault and assault with a weapon.

There was no hope of resolution, Crown seeking 9-12 months, 2 days of trial were set aside, we had requested medical documentation to understand the Crown's position. Prior to trial and prior to receiving the medical report, the Crown had laid a new information charging the client with aggravated assault. On the eve of trial, the Crown disclosed a doctor's report that supported our position and contradicted the complainant. The Crown offered my client a plea to simple assault for a suspended sentence and probation.

After a lengthy sentencing hearing, I was able to convince the judge to grant a conditional discharge.

R. v. S.M. - Assault

Domestic incident

Suspended sentence with 18 months probation

R. v. J.K. - Assault

Plead to assault

Conditional discharge and probation for 18 months

R. v. M.C. - Assault

Domestic incident

Entered guilty plea.

Received absolute discharge.

R. v. N.H - Assault

Domestic incident

Crown asking for conditional discharge and 1 year probation

Counselling, convinced crown to withdraw the charge

R. v. P.S. - Assault

Domestic incident

Charges were stayed

R. v. N.R. - Assault with a Weapon

Plea to assault as a lesser offence

Conditional discharge, probation for 12 months, counselling as directed

R. v. G.D. - Assault x2

Domestic incident

Received a conditional discharge with probation for 6 months.

R. v. R.A. - Uttering Threats

Peace bond

R. v. D.S. - Assault With Intent to Resist Arrest

Plea to assault, all other charges were withdrawn

Conditional discharge with probation for 18 months

R. v. J.S. - Assault x2

Domestic incident just two weeks prior to their destination wedding; client attended for counselling and crown changed the bail to allow them to have contact and get married

Charges were withdrawn after demonstrating counselling both individual and joint marital counselling

R. v. L. (Brampton Court, May 2013)

Client and his wife had been married for 40 years, and engaged in a verbal argument in which she believed he was engaging in an affair. The argument escalated (in which client supposedly picked up a lamp), police were called, and upon admitting that he had a previous prior domestic incident, he was arrested for assault with a weapon, assault, and uttering a threat to cause death. Following this incident client and his wife were at a mutual friend's funeral, wife pleaded for client to drive her home which she did, he was pulled over for an unrelated traffic incident, and was charged with breach of recognizance.

To convince client to plead guilty to charges based on a set of facts that he could accept. He then pled guilty to the charges of uttering a threat to cause death, and to the breach of bail, as the Crown was willing to give a discharge.

Client received an absolute discharge on both charges.

R. v. B. (Brampton Court, October 2012)

Client and his wife of 10 years had a history of domestic arguments and potential violence, and after a call to the police from his wife following an argument in which client threw a radio out the window, client was charged with mischief and assault with a weapon contrary (a couple weeks earlier he had allegedly thrown a calculator at his wife's foot).

Client was pleading not guilty because the stereo belonged to him, and you cannot commit mischief in relation to your own property. The assault was an accident, he was throwing the calculator out of anger and frustration but not at her (it ricocheted and hit her). After that trial date had been set, the Crown approached me to have further conversations, and it was agreed if he did counseling up front the Crown would withdraw the charge.

Charges were withdrawn, client entered into a peace bond.

R. v. S. (Brampton Court, August 2012)

Client had a history of domestic disturbances with his wife… one particular argument that occurred in 2010 resulted in a warrant for client’s arrest of uttering threats. However, at that time client had moved to the United States. In April of 2012, client was pulled over by police for an unrelated traffic charge, and it was discovered there was a warrant for his arrest, and he was taken into custody.

To prove that my client had been unaware there was a warrant for his arrest, and that he and his wife had been living together peacefully for a year and a half and he had no knowledge of the warrant, in hopes for a peace bond.

The Crown would not agree to a peace bond. A trial was conducted and the client was acquitted.

R. v. P. (Brampton Court, May 2012)

Following a heated argument between client and his wife, client's stepchild reported domestic incident to a teacher, and client was charged with assault. There had been no previous domestic incidents, and wife indicated client never got aggressive like that.

To attempt to convince the Crown that this was an isolated and out-of-character incident, but the Crown wanted a jail sentence, so client completed counseling on his own before pleading guilty, to show that he was sincere in his efforts to rehabilitate.

Able to convince the judge to grant him a conditional discharge, with probation for 18 months and no contact unless given permission.

R. v. G. (Brampton Court, January 2012)

Following an argument with his girlfriend, my client broke a glass cabinet, grabbed a kitchen knife, and then promptly left the residence. He and his girlfriend then engaged in a loud verbal argument outside, upon which my client uttered threats and the police were called. Client was charged with mischief under $5,000, weapons dangerous, and two counts of uttering death threats.

To have the matter adjourned for an extended period of time while my client completed a 16-session anger management course. He graduated from that course with a glowing recommendation.

Pled guilty to the charges and received a conditional discharge, with no criminal record. The judge accepted that he was just 18 years old at the time of the incident; had acted in an immature manner, but should not be saddled with a criminal record for the rest of his life.

R. v. F. (Brampton Court, January 2012)

Following provocation from a fellow coworker, my client engaged in an altercation with said coworker that resulted in his indefinite suspension from work and him being charged with assault. My client did not remember much of the episode due to an anxiety attack and manic episode, and was immediately remorseful and apologized for his actions.

convince the Crown that this was out of character for my client, and an isolated incident. The client had been personally dealing with a lot of stress, and was suffering from anxiety, severe stress, and depression. To prove that my client was attempting to rectify the situation, we demonstrated how he had enthusiastically completed an Anger Management course through the Salvation Army.

Charges were withdrawn and the client signed a peace bond.

R. v. S. (Brampton Court, December 2011)

Client and his wife got into a domestic dispute, which ended with my client hitting his wife in the face with a slipper and her calling the police. Client was charged with assault with a weapon. There were no previous incidents of domestic disputes with my client and his wife. The judge found him guilty, but sentencing was adjourned in order to gather information.

To prove that if my client was criminally convicted of assault with a weapon he would lose his taxi license and therefore his job.

Client was given a conditional discharge with 1 year probation and 50 hours of community service, with no criminal record.

R. v. B. (Brampton Court, June 2011)

Client was in a unofficial relationship with girl at his high school; relationship went bad and girl accused client of assault after several interactions and text conversations. Client was charged with uttering threats, two counts of assault, and sexual assault.

Through extensive negotiations with the Crown, we were able to agree on a set of facts that the client could admit to. We had a pre-trial with a judge, and the client pled guilty to one count of assault.

All other charges were withdrawn, and judge granted a conditional discharge and probation for 3 months in response to the assault charge he pled guilty to, so he could be free and clear of any conditions by the time he started university in September. We were also able to convince the school and the Crown to allow him to attend his prom and his final exams, as he had previously been banned from the school because of these charges.

R. v. C. (Brampton Court, March 2011)

Following an altercation with her boyfriend in his vehicle, in which alcohol was a factor, my client was charged with assault. Later that night, my client and her boyfriend engaged in another physical altercation, during which my client allegedly hit her boyfriend with a computer mouse. The police were called, and my client was charged with assault with a weapon.

To convince the Crown that she had been abused by her boyfriend on a number of previous occasions, and that he was a particularly manipulative, nasty individual. Tried to convince the crown that she should not be prosecuted for an assault on him that he claims she committed while not acting in self-defense.

Able to show the Crown a whole series of photographs that showed extensive bruising to my client. The Crown was persuaded that she had been a victim, and the charge was withdrawn.

R. v. N. (Brampton Court, October 2010)

Client accused of assaulting another man by swarming him with three other friends and punching and kicking him.

Convince the Crown that the complainant, who denied even knowing my client, was not credible and that in fact the complainant had previously assaulted my client’s mother.

Crown agreed to have my client sign a peace bond and the charges were withdrawn.

R. v. A. (Brampton Court, August 2010)

Client found himself charged with Assault Causing Bodily Harm after a verbal argument inside a local retail store turned violent. The client lost his cool and punched the victim in the face several times, leaving the victim with a bloody eye, a bloody nose, and a fractured cheek bone.

The client had never been in trouble before and held an important job that required him to travel to the U.S. and so we had to avoid a criminal record. We made sure the client undertook anger counseling and did volunteer work. We then gathered several letters showing that this was out of character for the client.

The crown had originally been seeking 60 days in jail but the Crown was impressed with his efforts at counseling and allowed him to plead guilty to simple assault and not ask for jail. I was then able to persuade the judge to grant the client a discharge so that he did not have a criminal record.

R. v. F. (Brampton Court, June 2010)

Client had given a statement to police under oath alleging an assault by her boyfriend. She did not, however, tell the police everything and wanted to change her statement.

I needed to meet with the Crown with her boyfriend’s lawyer also present. I had a sworn affidavit from the client stating what had actually happened but I needed to get the Crown to agree not to charge my client with an offence for not telling the whole story before.

The affidavit was drafted in such a way that the "fuller version" did not make her guilty of perjury for her previous statement. She was not charged and the charges against her boyfriend were withdrawn by the Crown.

R. v. W. (Brampton Court, May 2010)

Client charged with Assault Bodily Harm for breaking the victim’s nose in a fight they had following a university party.

Convince the Crown that the complainant had actually started the fight and had actually done damage to my client’s sister’s room where the party was. I was able to show the Crown postings on Facebook by the complainant where it became clear that he was the trouble-maker and in no fear of my client at anytime.

Charge withdrawn by the Crown. Client signed a peace bond.

R. v. S. (Cambridge Court, May 2010)

Client got drunk and went to the house where he had been living with his previous girlfriend. He broke into the house and beat up her new boyfriend (sent him to the hospital) and also assaulted his girlfriend in the process.

I needed to minimize the damage since the Crown was seeking a sentence of 9-12 months in jail and the client did not have a defense and was found handcuffed to a chair when the police arrived on scene. The client wrote a sincere letter of apology and began counseling for anger and alcohol related issues.

Client received 30 days in jail which he was permitted to serve on weekends to accommodate his work schedule.

R. v. M. (Brampton Court, April 2010)

Client was charged with assaulting her partner by punching her and giving her a black eye. Both parties had extensive criminal records.

Convince the Crown that my client had been provoked and they should not seek a jail sentence. The complainant had previous convictions for violent offences.

Crown agreed to probation and backed away from their initial position of 60 days in jail.

Decision/Outcome : After participating in the diversion program, the client entered a Peace Bond and the charge against him was withdrawn.

Decision/Outcome : Both clients pleaded guilty to one count of assault. The Judge was particularly impressed by their expressions of remorse and by their efforts at paying back to the community. I asked the Judge to grant them both an Absolute Discharge and he did.

R. v. W. (Brampton Court, November 2009)

The client and his two boarders had been drinking heavily and got into an argument. It was alleged that the client had knocked the female to the ground causing her to go unconscious. It was further alleged that he had punched the male boarder in the face and then cut him on the hand with some sort of sharp object.

The client worked at a sensitive location which required regular security checks. This meant that he could not have a criminal entry on his record. I attempted to convince the Crown that everyone was too intoxicated to say with any certainty what had actually happened. I then obtained further information which made it clear that the boarders did not wish to proceed with charges. I provided this information to the Crown Attorney so that it could be investigated.

The police were unable to contact either of the boarders. It became clear that they were not interested in talking to the police for any reason. The Crown became frustrated and ultimately withdrew the charges.

R. v. S. (Brampton Court, October 2009)

The victim was swarmed by approximately 8 other people. He was knocked to the ground and kicked and punched repeatedly. He was hurt quite badly and ended up in hospital overnight but was released the next day.

The client admitted to kicking the victim once in the butt but did not admit to doing any of the damage to the person who was hurt. There were 7 other lawyers involved who were all interested in having a trial. My client wanted the matter completed sooner rather than later. The Crown agreed to accept my client’s position that he had only kicked the victim in the butt once.

The client pleaded guilty admitting only to the one kick which did not cause any injury and he received a "reprimand" from the Judge.

R. v. H. (Brampton Court, July 2009)

Client is charged with a domestic assault in 2007. He then gets charge with breaching his bail for having contact with the complainant. He then fails to appear in court and a warrant is issued for his arrest. He is arrested in the city he now lives in and taken to court in Brampton for a bail hearing.

Client will not be able to post bail and so the case needs to be resolved quickly by way of guilty plea.

I persuade the judge that the client really has changed his life around and is now engaged to a new woman. Judge sentences him to 7 days in jail with no probation. Client could have easily received a sentence of 90 days in jail or more.

R. v. S. (Ontario Court of Justice, Brampton Court, 2008)

Mr. S. was charged with a series of offences against his wife including several assaults (punches, kicks, slaps, etc., over several months), uttering threats to kill his wife on several occasions, and an instance of sexual assault in which it was alleged that he had raped his wife. It was alleged by his wife that most of these instances took place while the accused was intoxicated.

Mr. S. denied all the allegations but did admit that he had a drinking problem and so my first advice was to get the alcohol problem under control so that he would be in good shape for the trial. A trial date was then set in the Ontario Court – we decided that the matter should not go before a jury because of the nature of the allegations. The focus of the trial would be on the credibility of S.’s wife and we would not be calling Mr. S. as a witness because he was often intoxicated at the relevant times. It was also determined that I would bluff the Crown into admitting into evidence my client’s statement to the police. The statement included a complete denial of the allegations but I convinced the Crown that I was opposed to the statement being admitted into evidence. She felt that meant there must be something damaging in the statement and she introduced it as part of the Crown’s evidence. Mr. S. did not testify.

Mr. S. was found not guilty on all charges. I argued and the judge accepted that Mr. S.’s denials were now a part of the Crown’s case and he was left in a state of doubt as a result. The result for the client could not have been better; not only was he acquitted of all charges, but he never had to suffer through a cross-examination by the Crown which would have been damaging to his credibility and self-esteem. The Crown had been seeking a sentence of 3 years in the penitentiary.

R. v. O. (Ontario Court of Justice, 2201 Finch, 2007)

Mr. O. and his mother were both charged with Uttering Death Threats against an individual who sold them a truck that was a lemon. The problem I faced as their counsel was the fact that the threatening messages were recorded on an answering machine.

I needed to control the damage and convince the Crown Attorney that the alleged victim really was a scoundrel and that the client’s actions, while inappropriate, were both out of character and understandable in the circumstances. Some background investigation of the complainant uncovered information that convinced the Crown that he was not someone of good character.

The Crown agreed to withdraw the charges against both mother and son; the clients signed peace bonds agreeing to have to no contact with the complainant.