Criminal Defence

Be polite, identify yourself where the law requires it, and then say clearly that you wish to speak with a lawyer and do not want to answer questions. You are generally not required to explain yourself, and statements given to clear things up frequently become the strongest evidence against the person who gave them. Ask for counsel and stay silent until you have spoken to one. Call our office as soon as you are able.

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, if you are arrested or detained you must be told without delay that you have the right to retain and instruct counsel, and you must be given a real opportunity to do so in private. Free duty counsel is available at any hour. Once you say you want a lawyer, questioning should stop until you have had that opportunity. If those rights were not respected, it can matter significantly to your defence.

If you are held after arrest, a bail hearing must take place promptly. The court decides whether you will be released while the matter proceeds and on what conditions, considering whether you are likely to attend court, whether release poses a risk to public safety, and public confidence in the administration of justice. Release often involves conditions and sometimes a surety. Having counsel prepare a realistic release plan makes a real difference at that hearing.

Disclosure is the material the Crown must provide about the case against you, including police reports, witness statements, officer notes, video, and test results. Providing it is a constitutional obligation, and reviewing it is the foundation of any defence, because it shows what the Crown can actually prove rather than what the charge alleges. Disclosure often arrives in stages, and a real part of defence work is following up on what is missing.

A first appearance is administrative rather than a trial. Nothing is decided about guilt, no evidence is heard, and you are not expected to have a full answer to the charge. Typically the matter is adjourned so that disclosure can be obtained and reviewed and counsel can be retained. In many cases a lawyer can attend for you. What matters most is that the date is not missed, since failing to appear is a separate offence.

Alberta uses a provincial administrative program for impaired driving under which police can issue immediate roadside sanctions, including licence suspension, vehicle seizure, fines, and mandatory programs, without a criminal charge being laid. There are short deadlines to request a review, and missing one can end your ability to challenge the sanction. If you have received a notice, get advice quickly rather than waiting, because the review window is measured in days.

Yes. The provincial roadside program does not replace the Criminal Code, and more serious cases, including those involving injury, death, repeat conduct, or refusal in certain circumstances, can still proceed criminally. A criminal conviction for impaired driving carries a record and mandatory minimum penalties, and it can affect employment, insurance, travel to the United States, and immigration status. The driving consequences and the criminal exposure need to be addressed together.

Not before you know what the Crown can actually prove. A guilty plea creates a criminal record that can follow you for years and affect work, travel, licensing, and immigration status. Once disclosure has been reviewed, a plea may well be the right decision, and an early resolution sometimes produces a better outcome than a trial. That is a judgment to make with advice, after seeing the evidence, not on the day you are charged.

A criminal record follows a conviction, so a withdrawal, stay, acquittal, or discharge does not create one. That said, police databases may still retain information about the charge, and it can surface in a vulnerable sector check, at a border, or in background screening. Where that is a concern, steps can sometimes be taken to have local police records destroyed. Ask about it once your matter concludes and we will explain the options.

A record suspension, formerly called a pardon, sets your criminal record apart from other federal records so that it does not appear in most Canadian criminal record checks. It is granted by the Parole Board of Canada, and you must complete your sentence, including fines and probation, then wait a set period before applying. It does not erase the record, and it does not guarantee that another country will admit you.

It varies widely. A simple matter resolved early may take a few months, while a case that goes to trial in the Court of King's Bench can take considerably longer. Constitutional limits on delay exist, but they do not make cases move quickly on their own. Timing is driven by disclosure, the number of witnesses, expert evidence, and court availability. We can explain the likely path once disclosure has been reviewed.