Assault Offences

S.B. was charged with assault causing bodily harm after a physical confrontation with his girlfriend resulted in her suffering a dislocated shoulder. The complainant alleged that during a night out with friends, S.B. consumed large quantities of alcohol and began acting out of character. The complainant further alleged that once the two arrived back at her house, a verbal argument ensued. After much back and forth, S.B. threw her into a wall resulting in the injury. S.B. denied many of the allegations and pled not guilty.

At trial, Cory cross-examined the complainant extensively on her alcohol consumption throughout the evening. The complainant originally claimed that she was sober, but after being confronted with a bar receipt, she admitted to drinking a significant amount of alcohol. Later in cross-examination, the complainant agreed that right before S.B. pushed her into the wall causing her injury, she may have hit him in the face causing his nose to bleed. S.B. testified that he had two drinks throughout the evening and had to take the complainant home due to her level of intoxication. He testified that the complainant repeatedly assaulted him and he pushed her in self-defence after she punched him in the face.

The trial judge found S.B. not guilty. This was the best possible outcome.

M.M. was accused by his pregnant fiancée of assaulting her three times in one evening, once in front of her young child. The complainant and M.M. had a very tumultuous relationship with significant issues of infidelity. On the evening of the incident, the complainant alleged that after a verbal argument, M.M. chased her outside and threw her to the ground. After the complainant returned to the house, M.M. physically restrained her, pushed her, twisted her arm behind her back, punched her, chocked her, threw her to the ground and pinned her down. M.M. maintained his innocence and pled not guilty.

At trial, Cory extensively cross-examined the complainant on the multiple inconsistent statements she gave to police. She was cross-examined on her motive to lie and her ongoing physical abuse of M.M. Testifying in his own defence, M.M. denied many of the complainant’s allegations and testified that the physical force he used was in self-defence after the complainant repeatedly attacked him.

The trial judge found M.M. not guilty. This was the best possible outcome for the client.

A.G. was accused of assaulting his wife, teenage son, and breaching both a recognizance and Protection Order. The allegations were made during an ongoing matrimonial and custody dispute between A.G. and his estranged wife.

It was alleged that A.G. assaulted his son by choking him during an argument to the point he was unable to breathe for a brief period of time. It was further alleged that A.G. caused injury to his son’s foot, chest and arm. Without his knowledge, A.G.’s daughter had secretly audio recorded the entire incident from another room and then disclosed the recording to police.

A.G. maintained his innocence and pled not guilty. Shortly before trial, Cory Wilson approached the Crown Prosecutor and outlined the significant contradictions between the complainant’s statement and the audio recording. Most importantly, the teenaged complainant, who alleged he could breathe or talk, was screaming obscenities at his father throughout. A.G., who was unaware he was being recorded, actually narrated what he was doing when he physically restrained his son who had just punched a window in what appeared to be an attempt at property damage.

As a result of the significant issues, the prosecutor agreed to withdraw the assault charge in relation to A.G.’s son.

With respect to the alleged assault against his wife, A.G. maintained his innocence and pled not guilty. The case came down to a credibility contest between A.G. and his wife as nobody else was present during the alleged assault. A.G. maintained he was assaulted by his wife who fell over as she was trying to steal a set of car keys to A.G.’s van. This van became the matter of another criminal matter as A.G.’s wife, prior to trial, forged documents getting her access to the van that was at an impound lot. Armed with this knowledge, Cory presented the criminal charges to the prosecutor who was unaware prior to trial that the complainant had been criminally charged. As a result, the Crown Prosecutor withdrew the charge.

As a result of the complainant’s credibility issues, Cory Wilson was able to convince the prosecutor to withdraw both charges as there was no likelihood of success.

A.G. was set to have three trials over the course of two weeks. Cory Wilson was able to have each charge withdrawn and A.G. did not face trial for any of the alleged offences.

Having charged from three separate trials was the best possible outcome.

E.Y. was charged with two counts of assault and mischief as a result of a fight that occurred at the University of Calgary. It was alleged that E.Y. and another student got into a heated argument. When the other student attempted to film the interaction on his cell phone, E.Y. grabbed the phone and smashed it on the ground. E.Y. then allegedly shoved the student and punched a third-party who tried to intervene.

As a result of lengthy resolution discussion, Cory Wilson was able to resolve the matter by having E.Y. enter into a Peace Bond in which he was to stay away from both complainants and take anger management counselling. Upon entering into the Peace Bond, the criminal charges were withdrawn, leaving E.Y. with no criminal record for the incident.

D.S. was charged with assaulting his neighbor after an ongoing dispute over parking spaces. It was alleged that D.S. slapped his neighbor across the face during an argument leaving a slight bruise under his eye.

After reviewing the disclosure, Cory Wilson met with the prosecutor and provided a detailed background on the client’s background and ongoing dispute. As a result, D.S. was entered into the Alternative Measures Program and made a small charitable donation. After making the donation, Cory Wilson had the charge withdrawn and D.S. was left with no criminal record.

C.C. was charged with aggravated assault after a child in her day home suffered a serious head injury. C.C. was detained and interviewed by police for over 8 hours. During this time, she asserted her right to silence on 24 occasions. The interviewing police officer used the Reid Technique which was designed to extract confessions. For over 8 hours, the officer subjected C.C. to a prolonged interview by engaging in lengthy monologues, constant interruptions and persistent questioning. At the end of the interview, C.C. confessed to throwing the child to the ground, causing him significant injury. Despite her confession, C.C. declared her innocence and the matter proceeded to a preliminary inquiry.

At the preliminary inquiry, the Crown sought to admit C.C.’s confession. Cory provided the trial judge with extensive written submissions detailing the significant issues with the officer’s use of the Reid Technique. In painstaking detail, Cory outlined how C.C.’s free will was overborne to the point she told the officer what she wanted to hear – a confession. The trial judge was directed to video of the “confession” in which C.C. can be seen shrugging and asking the officer if her description of throwing the child was correct. The judge, in a blistering decision, denounced the use of the Reid Technique in the strongest terms and found that C.C. did not confess on her own free will. The confession was excluded and without any other evidence of guilt, the charge against C.C. was dismissed.

The client was arrested and charged with assault after a fight outside of Cowboys nightclub in Calgary. Police didn’t observe the fight and nobody was able to positively identify J.B. as being involved in the fight. Surveillance video from a nearby building was grainy and was of no benefit to identifying the parties involved.

At trial, the Crown put up a number of witnesses in an attempt to identify J.B. as the guilty party. One by one, Cory Wilson had the witnesses concede they could not identify his client from the night in question. As a result, the trial judge rejected the Crown Prosecutor’s case and J.B. was found not guilty.

D.C. was charged with 2 counts of assault against an ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. The allegations stemmed from an incident that occurred after the new boyfriend confronted D.C. claiming that he was stalking his ex-girlfriend. As it turned out, D.C. just happened to work at an auto body shop two blocks from where the ex-girlfriend worked and she assumed he was stalking her because she saw him several times a week. When the new boyfriend confronted D.C., a fight ensued and the ex-girlfriend joined in.

At trial, Cory Wilson cross-examined the two complainants on their completely different versions of events, demonstrating to the judge that they were not being truthful. D.C. took the stand and testified that he was acting in self-defence after he was jumped by his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.

The trial judge believed D.C. and found that the two complainants were not credible. As a result, D.C. was found not guilty which was the best possible outcome.

Our client was charged with assault after it was alleged that he became heavily intoxicated and physically assaulted his wife. The allegations were incredibly serious and involved allegations of choking, which is an aggravating factor and generally leads to a criminal record if convicted. The client was heavily intoxicated at the time after learning of very troubling news about a member of his family. After first speaking with G.P. Cory Wilson recommended he immediately start domestic violence and alcohol counselling.

The assigned Crown Prosecutor was seeking a criminal conviction including an 18-month period of probation. After providing the Crown with multiple character references and confirmation of counselling, the Crown agreed to withdraw the charges. As a result, G.P. was left with no criminal record.

S.M. was charged with assaulting her teenage daughter by hitting her multiple times with the shaft of a broom. The allegations stemmed from disciplinary issues including finding sexual explicit pictures being sent to several boys, getting suspended from school for swearing at teachers, fighting at home and frankly, being out of control. At her wits-end, S.M. used physical force in an attempt to discipline her daughter. Unfortunately, the law protects parents who use physical force, but not those who use weapons to administer the force.

After battling many issues involving Child and Family Services including misinformation being provided to the prosecutor, Cory Wilson was able to negotiate the criminal charges being dropped and S.S. entered into a Peace Bond.