MISCHIEF OFFENCE
R v. M.L.
Result: Charges withdrawn. No Criminal Record
It was alleged that M.L. called 9-1-1 to report a co-worker with a gun as part of a “swatting” hoax. Roughly 40 police officers attending including the Tactical Unit. The building was evacuated until police determined there was no threat. Over the next several weeks, police painstakingly interviewed every person who was in the office on the morning of the 9-1-1 call. All complied with the request for interview except for M.L. which made him the obvious target. After an audit of all employees swipe cards, it was determined M.L.’s card was used to get into the conference room in which the 9-1-1 call was made. As a result, M.L. was charged with several criminal offences including public mischief.
In addition to the swipe card, there was surveillance footage of M.L. going into the boardroom moments before the call was made. Other lawyers gave M.L. their opinion that he had no defence and would likely be convicted of a criminal offence. This would be disastrous to M.L.’s career and his immigration status. Then he contacted Cory Wilson who saw the case differently.
There were significant holes in the evidence including the fact the Crown would have a difficult time proving M.L. believed he saw someone with a gun. Simply because police didn’t find a gun, didn’t mean that M.L. didn’t subjectively believe he saw one.
After months of resolution discussions, M.L. agreed to resolve his matter by pleading guilty to a non-criminal offence with a small fine. This was done under- the radar so the media wasn’t made aware and even more importantly, so M.L. did not receive any criminal record.
R v. K.C.
Result: Conditional Discharge. No Criminal Record
K.C. was charged with 15 counts of mischief as a result of ongoing graffiti being sprayed throughout a particular neighborhood. Much of what was written was of a threatening nature and homeowners became fearful for their life to the point where some purchased home alarm and surveillance systems. K.C. was caught on camera and subsequently gave a partial confession.
K.C. pled guilty and proceeded to sentencing. The Crown was seeking a criminal conviction given the nature of the graffiti. After very lengthy submissions including how a criminal conviction could possible de-rail K.C.’s chances of getting into veterinary school, the sentencing judge agreed with Cory Wilson and granted a conditional discharge.
R v. N.P.
Result: Conditional Discharge. No Criminal Record
N.P. was a fourth-year pre-med student with plans to attend medical school and become a medical doctor. While briefly visiting Calgary, he went out with friends and became heavily intoxicated. For reasons unknown, he attacked a parked vehicle with rocks causing a significant amount of damage. Based on the dollar amount of damage, the prosecutor was seeking a criminal record. Cory met with the prosecutor and presented N.P.’s background as well as the significant concerns about his future if he was saddled with a criminal record. After lengthy negotiations, the Crown agreed to a conditional discharge which would leave N.P. with criminal record.
This was an excellent result for our client that resulted in no criminal conviction.
R v. K.C.
Result: Conditional Discharge. No Criminal Record
Over a span of three weeks, K.C. and her boyfriend randomly targeted houses and used a grease pen to write threats, for no other reason than they thought it was humorous. K.C. and her boyfriend repeatedly targeted the same houses to the point where homeowners became so fearful they wouldn’t leave their houses and purchased security systems. After a security system caught K.C. in the act, the homeowner ran outside and took pictures of her and the license plate which led to her arrest.
K.C. admitted to police that she had committed all of the offences which eliminated any defences. Because of the severity of the threatening language and psychological harm suffered by the homeowners, the Crown was seeking a criminal conviction. Cory Wilson argued that the appropriate sentence was a discharge that would leave the young client with no criminal record. Despite significant push-back from the judge, he eventually agreed that the discharge was an appropriate outcome and the client was left with no criminal record.
R v A.T.
Result: Charges Withdrawn. No Criminal Record
A police officer pulled A.T. over for failing to yield to a pedestrian outside of the Calgary Courthouse. Rather that speak with A.T. in a respectful manner, the officer escalated the situation by telling A.T. that he was being given an $800 ticket to “educate him”. A.T., who had been polite and respectful to this point, became very angry and yelled at the cop for several seconds. After calming down, A.T. began to walk back to his vehicle but was stopped by the policed officer and told he was under arrest of disturbing the peace. A.T. pulled away from the officer’s grasp who then threw A.T. to the ground. After a brief skirmish, all of which was captured on body worn camera, A.T. was placed in the back of the police vehicle bleeding and unable to catch his breath due to a medical condition. After being transported to the police station, the arresting officer continued to be aggressive and repeatedly caused A.T. harm by twisting his arms, pushing him to the ground and making him lay on the frozen concrete.
A.T. was charged with assaulting a police officer, mischief and causing a disturbance. After reviewing the video of the incident, Cory was able to convince the Crown Prosecutor to withdraw all charges including the traffic ticket based on the police officer’s conduct. This was a great outcome for the client and saved him the stress and cost of having to go to trial.