Criminal Lawyer – Toronto, Ontario

It is not required for a person who is accused of the crime to personally testify for him or herself and no one has the right to force an accused person to testify. An accused has the right to remain silent and force the crown to meet its burden to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. However, there are many factual and legal circumstances when the best chance of the case’s success may be for the accused to actually testify. In many criminal trials, the best strategy is to not call the accused as a reasonable doubt has already been created by the defence lawyer through their skilled cross-examination of the crown witnesses. Every case is different and a competent, fully prepared, and experienced criminal lawyer is in the best position to assist the defendant in making a decision as to whether they should testify. The defendant’s decision to testify is one of the most important strategic decisions that is made at any trial and often the key to winning or losing a case.

The disclosure is a packet of documents that contain things and documents pertinent to an accused person’s case. It may contain the following things:

• Police notes
• Statements from witnesses
• Video statements given by the accused person or the witnesses while inside the police station
• Transcripts or summaries of calls made to 911

The crown attorney is required to provide full disclosure of all relevant documents and other evidence to the defence. Canadian law requires that a copy of these things and documents is given to the accused person’s lawyer for a review of the case in order to make a full answer and defence. The disclosure is then carefully reviewed by defence counsel to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the accused person’s case.

A court can order a publication ban that limits what media outlets may or may not publish. For example, an accused is entitled to request a publication ban regarding the evidence presented by the Crown at a preliminary hearing. However, publication bans do not generally prevent the media from reporting that you have been charged with a particular type of criminal offence. The media is also allowed to report about the actual evidence at trial of an alleged crime. The only exception at the trial is that a publication ban will prevent the media from publishing the name of the complainant or any evidence that would potentially reveal the complainant’s name.