man avoids 5 years in jail after armed robbery and other firearms charges withdrawn

R. v. M.

Mr. M. was no stranger to the criminal justice system.  He had previous convictions for robbery, firearms and other violent offences.  Just because he had prior convictions, did not mean that he commit the current offences he was charged with.  This time, Mr. M was charged with numerous firearms offences involving a home invasion and an allegation that he fired at the police from a 5th floor balcony.  He was alleged to have been the main played in the armed robbery and had the worst criminal record amongst his thee co-accused.  He was facing significant penitentiary time, upward of five (5) years; something that Mr. M was very nervous about since he had kept his nose clean for a number of years since his last jail sentence and was now working a steady job and providing for his young children.

There were many pieces of evidence connecting Mr. M to the apartment at some point on the night in question.  However, when looking closely at the evidence, Ms. Bristow was able to start unravelling the Crown’s theory.  The complainant and witnesses in this case were all drug users, some were drug dealers, and most of them were high at the time of the alleged offence.  There were significant inconsistencies between the versions of events, which caused great concern.  Although the Crown’s case on its face sounded heinous, it is not proper to convict someone on poor evidence just so someone pays for the crime.  The fact of the matter was that the evidence against Mr. M had substantial holes. 

 In recognizing the issues in the case, the Crown made various offers for Mr. M to resolve his matter.  Although its position began around five (5) years custody, the position eventually whittled down to a non-custodial one.  However, Ms. Bristow could not, and would not advise Mr. M to plead guilty to something he did not do.  Ms. Bristow negotiated with the Crown that Mr. M was willing to sign a peace bond not to contact the complainants in exchange for a withdrawal of the charges.  The Crown finally agreed.  Now Mr. M would not lose his job and would continue to remain in the community with his children. 

If you have a criminal matter and would like to contact Ms. Bristow for a free consultation, please contact her by phone at 416-598-5741 or email at bristow@criminaltriallawyers.ca

Note:  Past successes do not guarantee future successes