Philip's 1st Case — Assault, Weapons & Theft — Withdrawn

Client:  Philip, Youth Accused
Complainants:  four other youths

Charges:  Theft Under $5000; Possession of Weapons Dangerous; Assault with a Weapon; Carrying a Concealed Weapon; Uttering Threats

Background:  Philip and Gary didn't have much to do one evening. Spotting four youths playing hockey and a vehicle parked nearby, Gary decided to steal a backpack from the vehicle. It turned out to be a bad idea. Gary and Philip were spotted, chased, and accosted by the four other youths. It wasn't a fair fight, of course, since they were outnumbered and the other side had hockey sticks. Gary and Philip scooted out of there with more than their egos bruised. But they were determined not to be outdone. Gary and Philip soon returned well armed. Gary engaged the four youths while Philip stood back holding a heavy iron bar. Shortly afterwards, the police arrived, broke up the fight, and arrested Gary. Philip fled on foot, but was arrested a few days later.

READ THE POLICE REPORT

Goals:  Philip's goal was to plead guilty to one of the charges and to receive a conditional discharge. I explained that this would be difficult given the seriousness of the charges and given that Philip had already received a conditional discharge about a year ago for possession of a stolen automobile. I asked Philip and his dad to think about pleading "not guilty" and fighting the case at trial.

Strategy:  In reviewing the disclosure provided by the Crown, it became apparent that the Crown might have a serious problem proving the case against Philip. It wasn't clear from the disclosure how they came to arrest Philip. We surmised that Gary must have identified Philip to the police, but, since there was no statement in the disclosure, there was no evidence in the disclosure identifying Philip as being at the scene of the crime. Also, the police had failed to conduct an identification line-up. If the Crown spotted the problem early, it might be remedied. At the pre-trial meeting, it quickly became apparent that the Crown was treating the matter very seriously, and that Philip wasn't going to receive the "deal" he wanted. The pre-trial Crown correctly pointed out that the facts were very disturbing and that someone could have gotten seriously hurt if the police hadn't showed up when they did. I couldn't raise the Crown's identification problem because they might fix the problem. I explained the results to Philip and his dad, and urged them to simply allow me to schedule the matter for trial. They agreed. We scheduled the trial and bided our time.

Results:  On the morning of the trial, the Crown, greeting me with a disarming handshake, reported that he lacked proof of identification and wouldn't be proceeding. When the matter was called in Court, he explained to the Judge that he would have considered it inappropriate to do so. All charges were withdrawn.

READ THE COURT TRANSCRIPT
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