R. v Ayangma and Scott October 15, 2015 Scott Barry and Emily MacDonald Scott Barry and Emily MacDonald of Stewart McKelvey in Charlottetown offer up this recent example of a police operation capturing drug dealers, and a court having to determine when the opportunity to commit a criminal offence was offered to the accused.
R. v Neville: Responding to jury questions October 15, 2015 Michael King Michael King, of Simmonds + Partners Defence in St. John’s, looks at the case of R. v Neville to discuss the question of judges’ responses to jury questions, and how thorough and on point they must be.
R. v. Nadli: Pre-trial custody and sentencing November 10, 2014 Caroline Wazonek Caroline Wazonek, Chair of the CBA’s NWT Criminal Law Section, takes a look at R. v. Nadli.
Entrapment: Who's policing the police? November 06, 2014 Harout Haladjian In Canada, entrapment is not considered as a defence to a criminal accusation. Entrapment is not a justification or an excuse to a crime. To the contrary, entrapment can only be raised once the accused is found guilty.
Crown liability for damages under the Charter November 02, 2014 James Gumpert The Supreme Court of Canada will soon be hearing an appeal involving the issue of what the threshold is for grounding liability against the Crown in a public law suit based on a breach of an accused’s Charter rights by a Crown Attorney.
Ontario Court of Appeal rules intoxication a defence to arson June 15, 2014 Ian Carter People put themselves at the risk of setting more than they planned on fire every time they turn on the stove or light a candle, especially if they do it while drunk. And when things do go up in smoke, the question is: was it arson?
Cross-examination on prior inconsistencies in a witness statement June 15, 2014 David Porter TV lawyers do it all the time – use prior inconsistencies in a witness’s statement to raise doubt about the overall reliability of the testimony. But how does it work in real life?
Drug recognition expert evidence: our courts divided June 15, 2014 Kathryn Pentz How much weight should be given to drug recognition evaluation – does the science behind it have enough validity to pass the Mohan test?
Crime and persuasion: How to get through the evidentiary motion June 15, 2014 Suhail Akhter Suhail Akhter, a Crown attorney with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, provides a synopsis of this year’s in-person conference, whose theme was advocacy in the courtroom.
The SCC and Gladue: Fifteen years later, what progress? April 15, 2014 C.C. Barnett and B. William Sundhu When the SCC handed down its Gladue decision in 1999 it intended to right a wrong: the long-standing lack of regard for the essential differences between the lived experience of Aboriginal Peoples and those of people from other backgrounds.