If you are in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario or elsewhere in Canada, you should beware that people often think, incorrectly, that criminal findings of guilt before adulthood have no impact once a person becomes an adult. A young person’s record does not cease to exist just because they turn 18, and if they re-offend before the “non-disclosure period” has passed, their record can be used in court. Read the full article »

Sometimes, no matter how good your criminal defence lawyer is, you end up with a finding of guilt or a plea of guilt and a sentencing hearing is required.    Sentencing in Ottawa is a very important part of your case and should not be treated as an afterthought.

Where sentencing is likely or possible, our criminal defence lawyers will work with you to help build a strong case for a lenient sentence.   A key component of the sentencing package is reference letters.

We work with our clients to devise a list of people who can provide personal letters of reference on your behalf.   Typically these letters come from members of your community, religious institution, employer, neighbors, teachers or anyone else who is prepared to tell the court that you are a person of integrity who should be sentenced lightly.    Note that we would never contact anyone for a reference letter without your express consent and instructions.

Generally,  the letters of support set out the following:

-who the writer is in terms of occupation and family status

-a description of the writer’s connection to the accused person

-the fact that the writer is aware of the charges; and

-a description of a number of the accused person’s positive personal attributes (such as hard working, honest, a reliable worker, etc.).

The letter should include the writer’s contact information.

A package of supportive letters from people of good reputation in the community can go a long way to assisting your Ottawa criminal lawyers in making strong submissions on sentence.

If you have been charged with a criminal charge, you will likely worry about the charges, your job, your family.  But you are also probably worried about money.  What is this going to cost me?  If you are like most middle class people, you don’t qualify for legal aid.   Plus, you were probably not planning for this expense.  Here are a few issues you should be aware of:

• When you meet with the lawyer for the first time, you are unlikely to get a firm quote for a price.  This is not because the lawyer is being wishy washy.  It is simply because it is impossible to tell at the first meeting where the case will go.  For example, we have handled hundreds of domestic assault cases.  Some of them resolve favorably within a month of our retainer.   Others involve a lengthy trial.  Many end somewhere in between.   One size cannot fit all.  If the lawyer you meet quotes a flat fee at the first meeting, consider whether you are getting a cookie cutter defence as opposed to a defence that is tailored to your specific needs.  Consider as well whether that lawyer is really prepared to go to trial in your case at that price.

• The retainer you give at the beginning of the case is a deposit.  We put that money into our lawyer’s trust account where it is kept to be applied against your first bill.  When we deplete the retainer, we will ask you to replenish it.

• When we have seen the disclosure (i.e. the Crown’s evidence) in your case, we will be in a better position to quote a fee for your case and will do so in most cases.

• As long as you retain us early in the process, we will always work with you on a payment plan.  Putting a little bit into our trust account on a monthly basis is a good way to accumulate enough to finance a trial, if you need one.

• Some clients who are interviewing prospective lawyers are frustrated that they cannot know the price at the first meeting because it inhibits their ability to comparison shop.  Consider whether it is the wisest choice to hire a criminal defence lawyer based on price.  It would certainly be false economy to hire an inexperienced lawyer at a bargain price only to find that he or she is learning to practice criminal law on your case.

• In appropriate cases where cost is a serious issue, we can assign your case to a junior lawyer in our office who can handle most aspects of your files at a reduced rate.  However, at our firm, the partners supervise all cases and will still play a role in your defence.

Given everything that is at stake, do not assume that you cannot afford a criminal lawyer or that it is not a good use of your money.   In many cases, it will be the most important investment you will ever make in yourself.

If you have been released on bail, you may have bail conditions to obey while you are released.  These conditions will be printed on the papers the police gave you when you were released from the police station or detention centre.  You should study these conditions and have them on your person at all times.

To avoid being charged with a breach of your bail conditions (which is another criminal charge), you must obey the conditions.  If you have sureties, it is their job to make sure you obey your conditions.  They could lose their posted bail if you don’t obey your conditions.

So what happens if you have a legitimate reason why you cannot readily obey your conditions?  For example, you may have a curfew that requires you to be home by 8 pm but your shift at work ends at 8:30.  If you keep your condition, you will lose your job.  There is a solution in most cases which is to get a bail variation.

Your criminal defence lawyer can try to get you a bail variation when you have a good reason to vary the bail.   Often this can be obtained on the consent of the Crown, depending on the reason for the variation and the nature of the variation.  Sometimes, a bail variation is contested.  A contested variation will require argument before the court and a decision by a judge or a justice of the peace.

In either situation, the variation will certainly take days and may take a few weeks.  As a result, it is very important that you do not leave it to the last minute.  Your criminal lawyer needs some lead time to get a bail variation done.  In the meantime, recall that breaching your conditions could result in additional charges and will almost certainly ensure that your criminal charges will be harder to resolve favorably.

Charged with a criminal offence? Take advantage of the free consultation offered by most criminal defence lawyers before deciding how you are going to handle the situation. At the initial consultation, the criminal lawyer will be able to explain:

• the process,
• how long it will take,
• the types of defences that may be available to you,
• what should be expected in the disclosure and
• what range of sentence is possible if you were to plead guilty or be convicted of the charges, or any one of them.

Having this information is crucial to making a decision about whether or not to hire a lawyer and fight the charges.

However, at the initial consultation it is unlikely that an experienced criminal defence lawyer will be able to tell you if they can get the charges withdrawn or secure an acquittal. At the initial consultation stage, the lawyer will not have the disclosure, which is the Crown’s evidence. Some of the disclosure may be helpful to you. Other aspects of the disclosure may not be helpful. Until the defence lawyer has access to this information, it is unlikely that the lawyer will be able to give you an opinion.

The bottom line? Before you speak to the Crown or plead guilty to your charges, get the basic advice available at an initial free consultation so that you can make an informed decision on your case.

When you are hiring a criminal lawyer for your case, you probably won’t be considering whether your lawyer will do everything he can to ensure he collects all of the Crown disclosure in your case before consenting to set a trial date.  But, in many cases, that is exactly what you need your criminal defence lawyer to do.

“Crown disclosure”  is all of the evidence that the Crown has in your case, whether it helps or hurts you.  Shortly after your arrest, usually at the second or third remand appearance, the Crown will give you or your lawyer a package of disclosure.  However, it is very rare that everything the accused is entitled to is produced in that packet.  An experienced criminal defence lawyer knows how to make a fulsome request to ensure that you get all the evidence you need to develop the defence of your case.

Very often, police officer’s notes from one of the officers involved are overlooked by the Crown or interview notes or other details are omitted.   Every time a new set of notes is located, the defence lawyer has a chance to detect discrepancies that may be enough to give rise to a reasonable doubt.

The bottom line?  You need a criminal defence lawyer who digs for all the evidence in your case.

When an allegation is made that you are abusing your spouse or intimate partner you may be charged with domestic assault.  Domestic assault, also known as spousal assault,  is the use of physical force with the intent to harm a spouse, loved one or cohabitant.   Domestic assault /  spousal assault is a very serious crime in Canada.

If you are currently being investigated for, or have been accused of or formally charged with this type of assault, it is in your best interest to retain a knowledgeable criminal defence lawyer.  A criminal defence lawyer will strengthen your case by using his experience, skill, education and superior knowledge of Canada’s criminal law when defending your case before a judge in the Ontario courts.

If you are convicted of domestic assault, you may face jail time, restitution, fines, probation, counselling and a criminal record.   A criminal record impacts your ability to travel and work in certain types of positions.

Domestic Violence Lawyers

At the Auger Hollingsworth, our lawyers will provide you with excellent criminal defence of your assault charge or charges.  We have represented people just like you on many domestic violence cases that have resulted in favourable conclusions.   Use our  Free Consult form, or call us at 613 233-4529, to book a no obligation consultation.

Charged with a serious motor vehicle crime? You are probably not a career criminal. More likely, you are someone who may have made a one-time serious error in judgment. You want to do your best so that this lapse does not ruin the life. If you are faced with Criminal Code or serious Highway Traffic Act offences, it is important to have a criminal defence lawyer who will defend you vigorously against any motor vehicle crime charge. In some cases, having that defense can make the difference between significant prison time and a traffic ticket. Read the full article »

In our Ontario criminal defence practice often even if the case is not “white collar” itself, our client will be  white collar in background.   A relatively minor domestic assault or drug charge, for example, brought against a physician or dentist might be as life-altering to his/her reputation and practice as tax evasion charges would be.  Quite frankly, many professionals face the possibility of losing their professional licenses if convicted of certain criminal offences. Other business people face the prospect of failing background checks.  In any of these cases, a full time, experienced criminal defence lawyer is required to achieve the best result.

Our criminal practice focuses most of its lawyer hours to the defence of major crimes and large criminal cases.  White collar criminal defence is our primary practice area.   How can that be?  Well, the most serious criminal cases– for which the criminally accused has the resources to retain a seriously aggressive criminal defence lawyer—are white collar criminal cases.

Our white collar criminal defence practice focuses primarily on the following criminal charges: tax evasion, accounting fraud, investment fraud, deceptive trade practices, securities violations, insider trading,  business crimes, organized crimes, gambling organizations, internet crimes, computer crime, bank fraud, counterfeiting, forgery, racketeering, land fraud, real estate scams, Nigerian scams, credit card fraud and more.

If you would like to learn more about how we can help you or a loved one following a a serious criminal charge, use our contact us box to request a confidential consultation with Richard Auger.

Lawyer Richard Auger Prepares a Case

If you have been charged with a criminal offence, now is the time to take the responsible step of hiring the best Ottawa criminal defence lawyer for your case.   How do you do that?

Many accused start with the list of lawyers they receive at the Ottawa police station.  Maybe you were charged late at night and called for legal advice from the jail.  Is that the person who you want to handle your very serious case? Consider whether the experienced lawyer you want on your case is answering his phone in the middle of the night. Many lawyers consider the midnight calls to be the role for very junior counsel.

A second place you may look for an experienced criminal defence lawyer is the Yellow Pages.  Do you find you can obtain meaningful information from a Yellow Pages ad?  Many prospective clients have noted that the lawyers in the Yellow Pages pretty much all sound the same.

You are probably getting closer by checking out the lawyer’s website.  Does the website include helpful information, available for free, to answer your basic questions?  Does the website include case results and client testimonials?  The more helpful information you get from the defence lawyer’s website, the more comfortable you may feel knowing (a) that this is a real criminal defence lawyer who knows his stuff and (b) that this is a lawyer who will take the time to explain and educate you about the legal process.

Without exception, however, there is no substitute for meeting face to face with the criminal defence lawyer for a free consultation.  The lawyer should welcome you to meet him at his office.  The lawyer’s staff should be courteous.  The lawyer should actively answer your questions and talk specifically about your case.  (Having said that, no lawyer will be able to predict the outcome of your case at the initial client meeting.)  At the meeting you should take the time to ask all the questions you have about trial experience, past cases on similar charges and anything else you want to know before selecting a lawyer.  A competent criminal defence lawyer will make you feel comfortable while you ask the questions you need to make an excellent choice.