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How long does a typical summary conviction criminal charge take?

by | Jul 28, 2023 | Criminal Harassment Videos, Videos

The timeline for summary conviction criminal charges is important for anyone who may be going through the court system. These cases, deemed less severe than indictable offences, include charges like a minor domestic assault, DUI, and theft under $5,000. Here is  an overview of what to expect, from initial arrest to trial.

Initial Court Appearance

After an arrest, you are  given a first court appearance date. This stage involves:
  • Intake,  Case Management, or Remand Court: Your lawyer attends on your behalf to gather disclosure, which includes all evidence against you, and engage in preliminary discussions with the Crown prosecutor.
  • Duration: This phase can span approximately 2-4 months or more, involving 3-5  or more court appearances, depending on the complexity of the case and the amount of evidence to review.

Decision to Plead Guilty or Proceed to Trial

  • Pleading Guilty: If evidence against you is strong and you admit guilt, pleading guilty can resolve your case within 1-4 months following the first court appearance, quickly concluding the legal process.
  • Trial: Choosing to fight the charges extends the timeline significantly.

Pre-Trial Preparations

Before setting a trial date, you must undergo:
  • Judicial Pre-Trial: One or more meetings with a judge and the Crown  occurring approximately  2-4 weeks or more  after deciding to go to trial. This meeting is for the purpose of discussing case specifics and setting trial expectations.

Setting the Trial Date

  • Scheduling: After the judicial pre-trial has been completed,  a matter may be ready to set for trial.  Once ready for trial, scheduling depends on the court’s availability. You should expect a wait of  approximately 4-12 months from the judicial pre-trial to the actual trial date, depending upon how busy the criminal trial courts are in a given county in Ontario. 
  • Trial Duration: Most summary conviction matters are resolved in a one-day trial in the Ontario Court of Justice , but the total time from arrest to trial conclusion can range from 10 to 16 months or more, based on case complexity and court schedules.  Of course, more complex cases may take many trial days to complete. 

Conclusion

Navigating a summary conviction charge involves several stages, with the process spanning anywhere from a few months to well over a year, heavily influenced by the decision to plead guilty or fight the charges, as well as the jurisdiction’s court backlog. Seeking legal advice early on can provide a clearer understanding of the timeline and help strategize for the best possible outcome.

Video Transcription:

Thank you for joining me today for the video tip of the day. I want to talk to you about minor matters in the court system. They’re called summary conviction matters and how long your case is gonna take whether you plead guilty or you had a trial. So I would classify a summary conviction matter as something like, for example, a minor domestic assault, a DUI, a theft under $5,000, criminal charges that are at the lesser end of the scale as opposed to more serious charges like sexual assault involving rape, murder or aggravated assault which are indictable matters. So I’m gonna give an example, let’s just take a theft under or domestic assault. You give it a first court appearance. So you rest it, you’re given a first court appearance. Your lawyer is gonna go to that first appearance and it’s called intake or remand course and that process where you’re gathering disclosure and meeting with the client, meeting with the crown, you know various court processes. It could be a two or three, four months range before you’re ready to set a trial date. There’s a lot of information to be gathered, meetings with the crowns, meeting with the client, et cetera and maybe three, four or five court appearances. You don’t have to go to those court appearances if you hire a lawyer. You could also plead guilty in that stage so your case can be over quickly if you want to get the best result possible because the proof is strong against you and you’ve admitted your guilt. So the case ends one, two, three, four months regardless of your sins and atonement. But we’re talking now about someone who wants to go on trial so at the end of that two to three, four months, typically for a one day trial, what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna need to set a meeting called judicial pre-trial. That’s the meeting with the judge. It’s gonna take place two to three, four weeks down the road in some managed court type. So now, you know, we’re up to three or four, five months in, now we’re in a position to set your court date. Your trial date, if you will, where the crown’s going to call on evidence. You’re gonna call any of that evidence to try and fight your case dismiss. You’re going to try and win your case or the crown’s going to prove your case against you. How long is that gonna take, well, if you’re going to go on the interior court of justice and set a date depending on the county today, your trial’s going to be four, six, eight, ten, twelve months down the road. You know, if you’re in Brampton, it’s gonna take a long time. If you’re not in a busy county, it could be four months or even less in some cases but four is pushing it. Most counties are in six to eight, ten. So there you have it, if you add those time of periods together you’re looking at, you know, three or four months in the remand stage up to a year before your crown date set or last or your case could be take up to sixteen months even or much less even ten to twelve months before your crown’s completed. That’s the typical timeline and what you expect if your case goes on to trial or you can plead guilty at any time or perhaps the crown, hopefully, your lawyer can convince the crown to withdraw the charge or if there’s no case. Thank you for joining me today for the video tip of the day.

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