Section 587 of the Code gives the trial Court authority to order the Crown to furnish particulars where it is satisfied that particulars are necessary for an accused to receive a fair trial. Where a particular is delivered pursuant to section 587, a copy of the particular is given without charge to the accused or her counsel and it is entered in the record and the trial proceeds in all respects as if the information or indictment has been amended to conform with the particular. While the matters described in subsection 587(1)(a) to (g) may be the subject of an order for particulars, these are not exhaustive of what might be ordered. Thus, the true function of particulars is to give further information to the accused of that which the prosecution intends to prove so that she may have a fair trial.
Discovering the Case: Be Thorough, Be Relentless
Uncovering all the facts requires more than meetings with your own client and the client’s witnesses. Complete disclosure is paramount, although the issue of what can or should be disclosed in any given case is by no means uncontroversial.
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Meeting the Client’s Witnesses: Be Patient, Be Supportive
So far as practicable, you should try to provide the same sort of empathy and support to the witnesses who may be called in support of your client. They too feel vulnerable when they deal with lawyers. Who doesn’t? But witnesses feel more than usually threatened. Except for the fear of punishment that the accused alone may face, witnesses consider that they are very nearly in the same position as the accused. They are unfamiliar with and usually frightened of the trial process, so they are reluctant to be involved. They need to be made to feel that the lawyer has taken into account their interest as well as those of the accused. They must come to see that the lawyer representing the accused is competent to handle the trial and to present them before the court without causing them humiliation or terror. Continue reading “Meeting the Client’s Witnesses: Be Patient, Be Supportive”
Meeting the Client: Be Interested, Stay Interested
A common complaint against criminal trial lawyers is that, at bottom, they tend to show little empathy for their clients. We are said to show more concern for ourselves, and our fee, than for the person who, after all, stand accused of a crime and face the daunting power and authority of the police and prosecution. It may be true: the longer the lawyer toils away at this business, the greater the possibility that the lawyer will be insensitive to the particular plight of the individual charged. Continue reading “Meeting the Client: Be Interested, Stay Interested”
In The Beginning There Was Light
The work of a trial lawyer is uniquely difficult. Every line of work has its difficulties, each requires developing certain skills. Most businesses require persuading others about the merit of a product or a service. But trial lawyers have a much higher bar to reach, as Judges are no ordinary people. They are highly educated, experienced and perceptive. And for jury trials, your arguments will need to be understood and accepted by twelve (or fourteen) people at once. You will need to prepare for this task like you have never prepared before.
The Importance of Strategy in a Criminal Trial
2022 Canadian Criminal Procedure
2022 Canadian Criminal Procedure Volume 1
2022 Canadian Criminal Procedure Volume 2
Available at amazon.com and amazon.ca.
2022 Criminal Trial Strategies
Patrick Ducharme’s Criminal Trial Strategies is available at Amazon.ca or Amazon.com. For educational use, please contact MedicaLegal Publishing for a bulk discount .
Read or listen to the Preface and Introduction and subscribe to Patrick Ducharme’s Youtube Channel.
An Urgent Call to Arms Against Tyranny
These are turbulent times. Presently, amidst a global pandemic, the right to life and liberty is under attack.
Large corporations and their multi-billion-dollar lobby groups have corrupted many scientists. Through their misleading scientific “evidence”, they have convinced government leaders to pass new laws that benefit only the oligarchs while ordinary citizens are forced to submit to dangerous medical procedures whose known consequences are sometimes deadly, and whose long-term consequences are unknown.
Personal Privacy Obliterated By Canada
Federal Government Is Continuing To Destroy Any Rights of Privacy
Are you worried about your privacy? You should be. The Canadian government intentionally exposes every Canadian to breaches of their privacy. Privacy breaches by the government and others are legislatively encouraged and protected. Access to private information is granted upon request, without a warrant or court order. Information that Canadians believe is entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy is intentionally exposed.
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