Welcome to East Law, “The Right Way to a Strong Defence.” My intention for this blog is to avoid long winded posts that touch upon obscure areas of law. Reading new cases and understanding the law’s complexity is my job, not yours. Instead, I want to give some insight to what I do as a criminal defence lawyer, and why I do it.
So, let me begin by answering a question I get asked all the time. That is, “how do you defend someone you know is guilty?” Let me start by saying that guilt is truly for the Judge to decide. Even if I’m aware that factually speaking, my client committed some act, it doesn’t mean that they are legally guilty. A vengeful lover can stab their husband or wife for cheating, and not be guilty of murder. They may be guilty of manslaughter if the Judge or Jury finds that the Crown (prosecution) proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is important to remember that the nature of our legal system is adversarial. The Crown has plentiful resources and the power of the police at their disposal in bringing an accused person to Court. This power is used to paint a picture that makes an accused person look very guilty. I take pride in showing the Court that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I’m passionate about persuading the Judge or Jury that when you consider the case from my client’s point of view, either 1) my client is not guilty 2) my client’s case should be ‘thrown out’ due to violations of his constitutional rights, or 3) both.