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The following are issues which should be considered by anyone charged with a criminal offence in Canada. Speak to your lawyer and ask him or her about these issues.

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• Even if you are morally guilty, can the police and Crown prove their case against you?

• Was there a witness? Are they exaggerating?

• Was there any physical evidence, recording, or data?

• If you made an oral, written, or video statement admitting to the offence, did the police follow all the rules in reading your rights?

• If you are a young person did the police permit you to consult with your parents?

• Did the police have a valid reason for a search of you or your car?

• Did the police have reasonable and probable grounds for the arrest?

• Did the police speak to you in a language you understood? (see Vanstaceghem in the Ontario Court of Appeal) Did they read you your rights and tell you about 24 hour free advice from duty counsel? (See Brydges in the Supreme Court of Canada) Were you too intoxicated to understand? (See Clarkson and Mohl in the Supreme Court of Canada) Is English your second language?  

• Were you given a real opportunity at the police station to consult with a lawyer in private? Were you limited to only one call?

• Should you serve the Crown with a Notice of Application for a remedy excluding evidence under s. 24(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? 

• Has the Crown provided you with complete disclosure of their case including documents and materials helpful to you? Has any evidence been destroyed? (See Stinchcombe in the Supreme Court of Canada)

• Has the matter come on for trial within a reasonable time or have there been unacceptable delays due to Crown requested adjournments, paperwork foul-ups, or systemic problems in the Courts? (See Askov and Morin in the Supreme Court of Canada) 

• If convicted, is this a first offence, a second offence, or a third? Did the police  follow all the rules for service? What's your previous record? Will the Crown negotiate to treat a third as a second or a second as a first?

• You need to consult with a lawyer to go over your case in detail 

 

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