Domestic Violence Offences
Over the years of my practice, I have successfully represented my clients in hundreds of cases of domestic assault, threatening death or bodily harm, mischief, sexual assault, criminal harassment, and other domestic violence offenses.
Have you been charged with domestic assault? Trust me, you are not alone. Domestic violence offenses comprise a huge percentage of any Court’s docket. In many Courts, domestic violence offenses have a special dedicated day of the week and a domestic prosecution team.
But I Did Not Even Do Anything
If you think that you were wrongfully charged, nothing really happens and your spouse simply uses (or abuses) the criminal justice system to gain an advantage in a matrimonial dispute or simply to “teach you a lesson”, you are not alone either. It is amazing how many domestic assault cases boil down to exactly that and also how easy it is for a person to get charged with domestic violence offense based on the uncorroborated complaint of his or her spouse or partner. It is literally enough for a wife to attend at the police station and make a statement that her husband slapped her (no injuries or even redness on the cheek is required) and the husband can be arrested, charged, held at the police station overnight, and the next morning took to Court for a bail hearing where a justice of the peace will decide whether such person can be released on bail pending his trial.
I Was Offered to Go into the EI Program – What Is It?
Not surprisingly many people lose faith in the system after experiencing such treatment and then are fooled into so-called “early intervention” program which requires them to plead guilty, undergo an anger management program, and then, if the program is successfully completed, get a conditional discharge which is a finding of guilt but not a conviction. Many do so to avoid legal fees thinking that discharge is not really a criminal record. But guess what I think if I look at your record and see that you received a discharge for assault? I think that you were charged with assault, were found guilty, and then granted a discharge. So although technically it is not a criminal record, it is clear that you committed a crime.
Accordingly, my advice to anyone charged with domestic assault or other domestic violence offenses is to fight the charges and try to obtain an acquittal. It does happen more often than you think as long as you have an experienced domestic assault lawyer by your side.
Can My Charges Be Resolved Without Trial?
One definite advantage I have over many other domestic assault lawyers is that my practice is not restricted to criminal law. I handle family law matters as well and understand the dynamics of the matrimonial process. I also know how to use the materials from the matrimonial proceeding in a criminal case to discredit the allegations brought by the complainant. In many cases, I managed to persuade the Crown Attorney to withdraw the criminal charges based on inconsistent information contained in the family court proceeding. At the same time, I used the discredited criminal complaints to undermine the other side’s position in a matrimonial case.
Obviously, some more serious charges have to go to trial, but a trial does not necessarily mean a conviction.
In a recent case, my client was charged with numerous sexual offenses in relation to two of his children. He was literally staring at potential 20 years in prison. However, after a lengthy trial, it turned out that all of the allegations were simply fabricated by his wife. It took a lot of work, including uncovering numerous social media posts from the wife to show that the charges were false, but in the end, my client was acquitted.
Remember, if you fight, you may win or lose but if you give up, you have already lost. With help of the experienced domestic assault lawyer, you can fight the charges and win but by pleading guilty you foreclose this opportunity.