Mike's Case — Sexual Assault (neighbour) — Withdrawn

Client:  Mike C., Accused
Complainant:  Tina, his neighbour and co-worker
Charge:  sexual assault

Background:  Tina and Mike lived in the same building. Tina was unhappy in life and unlucky in love. She found much comfort in spending time with Mike, her older neighbour. They flirted from time to time. One day at Mike's apartment Tina told Mike "come love and give me a hug." It seemed natural enough, and Mike complied, warmly embracing her. Then a week later — BANG — Mike was arrested for sexual assault. It hit him "like a ton a bricks." Mike went on the hunt for a Toronto defence lawyer that would fight his case "cuz there's no way I'm going down for something I didn't do." He soon found me.

READ THE POLICE REPORT

Goals:  Having lived his whole life "with no trouble with the law," Mike was horrified at the prospect of being placed on the sex offender registry and was (correctly) worried about going to jail. He wanted the sexual-assault charge withdrawn by the Crown or dismissed by the Judge. There would be no deals.

Strategy:  Our defence was "consent":  the touching that occurred was exactly what Tina had requested, nothing more (and nothing less, Mike having an obliging nature). To fully establish our defence, Mike would have to testify at trial. I explained to Mike that the Crown usually proceeds in "these cases." We had to prepare to fight the case at trial before the Judge, but I still harboured some hope that the Crown would, at some point, throw in the towel. Like Garth's case and Baldwin's case, I had to file a special application to be allowed to ask questions about their sexual activity (which never went beyond cheeky flirtation). I prepared and filed the section-276 application 30 days in advance of the trial date.

Results:  Shortly after filing this application, the Crown spoke to me about the weaknesses in their case. The Crown interviewed the complainant then spoke to me. Five days before the trial was scheduled to start, the Crown withdrew the charge.

READ THE TRANSCRIPT OF WHY THE CROWN WITHDREW THE SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGE
READ MIKE'S TESTIMONIAL