An excerpt: How many times have Canadians heard police testify that they were forced to take aggressive action because of threatening action by a suspect, backing up the claim by reading from the notes they made at the scene? How many court cases have turned on judges accepting the validity of contemporaneous notes made by Read more
The Conservative Government announced today that they intend to scrap the two-for-one sentencing credit that is typically applied to individuals who are held in custody pending the outcome of their case. This recent pronouncement seems to be catering to anecdotal outrage over certain cases and how individuals are seemingly “taking advantage” of the system. In Read more
Today the Star reports the decision of Justice Sproat dismissing the application brought by some of the accused in the “Toronto 18″ case involving paid police informant, Mubin Shaikh. The judge ruled that despite the actions of Mr. Shaikh, it did not amount to what is defined as “entrapment” under Canadian Law. Which begs the Read more
Today the Star reports the decision of Justice Sproat dismissing the applicaiton brought by some of the accused in the “Toronto 18″ case involving paid police informant, Mubin Shaikh. The judge ruled that despite the actions of Mr. Shaikh, it did not amount to what is defined as “entrapment” under Canadian Law. Which begs the Read more
FOXNews reports that Kanye West has been charged with vandalism charges from an incident with the paparazzi at LAX Airport. This begs the question who the real criminals here are: celebrities like Kanye who react as most people would with people yelling and shoving cameras in their face or the paparazzi who engage in this Read more
This post is intended to assist those trying to understand bail court, how to bail a person out, and what the obligations of a surety are in doing so. These procedures relate only to the bail process under the Criminal Code of Canada, and more specifically focused towards bails in Ontario including Toronto, Newmarket, Scarborough, Read more
Today I have left the partnership of Pinkofskys in Toronto to pursue my career as a sole-practitioner. My address and telephone number remain the same but my email will change to the address listed on my website (www.criminallawyerintoronto.ca). My time at Pinkofskys was some of the best years in my life and has taught me Read more
Whether your first appearance in criminal court is in Toronto, Newmarket, Scarborough, Oshawa, or anywhere in Ontario, I am sure you will find the following information helpful in understanding what happens: When a person is charged, they are either released from the scene, at the police station, or on bail (or detained and denied bail Read more
I have stumbled across a terrific new service from Google called Knol. Knol is similar to Wikipedia but more tailored to individuals. It allows authors to post on topics that they wish to provide expertise or advice on. I intend to use this service quite extensively and have already posted several posts. You can see Read more
A lot of people have telephoned, emailed, and spoke to me recently confused about how to properly with domestic assault charges in Ontario in the face of zero-tolerance Crown policies relating to domestic violence. In this post, I intend to give a brief summary of how domestic assault charges are generally dealt with in the Read more