CALGARY ESCAPE LAWFUL CUSTODY LAWYER
Attempting to run away from a police officer after being arrested in Canada or escaping from prison is likely to lead to a charge of escape from lawful custody in addition to the charge(s) you were already arrested for.
If you find yourself in this position, it is unlikely that the Calgary courts will treat you leniently because you have shown disregard for the law, making it doubly challenging for your criminal defence lawyer to prevent serious consequences.
You will need to contact Cory Wilson as soon as possible so that he can begin working on building a defence and reducing these consequences.
What is escape from lawful custody?
Escape from lawful custody and being at large without excuse is not to be confused with similar offences, such as obstructing a peace officer or resisting arrest.
The offense is addressed in Section 145.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada as follows:
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- (1) Every person who escapes from lawful custody or who is, before the expiration of a term of imprisonment to which they were sentenced, at large in or outside Canada without lawful excuse, is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Escape from lawful custody generally occurs when a suspect has been arrested and escapes the police.
It is known as a hybrid offence, whereby it can be prosecuted as a summary offence or a more serious indictable offence. For a summary offence, the maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and/or six months in jail.
Failure to attend court or surrender
Section 145.2 of the Criminal Code addresses the failure to attend court or surrender:
(2) Every person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who,
(a) is at large on a release order and who fails, without lawful excuse, to attend court in accordance with the release order;
(b) having appeared before a court, justice or judge, fails, without lawful excuse, to subsequently attend court as required by the court, justice or judge; or
(c) fails to surrender themselves in accordance with an order of the court, justice or judge, as the case may be.
Being “unlawfully at large” generally occurs in one of the following situations:
- A person serving a term of imprisonment escapes lawful custody and is “at large” in the community
- A person fails to return from a temporary pass from prison
- A person fails to surrender him or herself in accordance with the terms of an intermittent sentence (such as a weekend jail sentence)
- A person breaches the terms of a conditional sentence order (prison sentence in the community)
- A person fails to surrender in accordance with the terms of “bail pending appeal”
To be convicted, you must be in lawful custody
Escape from lawful custody is rarely a simple case for the prosecution to prove. All of the critical elements of an alleged crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction.
Two possible defences in such cases are that the police have the wrong person (cases of mistaken identity are common) and that the accused was not in the lawful custody of the police at the time of escape.
If the arrest was not lawful or the police exceeded the powers granted to them, an experienced defence lawyer can often argue that the escape from custody was justifiable.
For instance, if someone escapes after being arrested without reasonable and probable grounds, the suspect may have been legally entitled to escape from the police. If the judge is satisfied that this was the case, the suspect would be found “not guilty”.
How does the prosecution prove “unlawfully at large”?
To secure a conviction for being “unlawfully at large”, the prosecution must prove the following beyond a reasonable doubt:
- The defendant was, at the time of the offence, serving a term of imprisonment, and
- He or she was unlawfully outside the custody or control of the State at the material time.
Generally, the prosecution will use an “exemplification” to prove the first element. This is a sealed and certified court document that is introduced at trial as proof of the truth of its contents — in this case, that the suspect was serving a term of imprisonment.
To prove that the defendant was “unlawfully at large” during his or her prison sentence is generally more challenging. The strategy used will depend on the nature of the supposed escape or failure to surrender.
For instance, in the case of an offender sentenced to an intermittent sentence at the weekends in Calgary, the prosecution needs to show that the accused failed to surrender to his or her jailer at the Calgary Corrections Centre or Remand Centre at the designated time, thereby breaching the terms of his or her sentence.
Call Us to Arrange a Confidential Consultation
To speak with Cory Wilson or arrange a free, no-obligation consultation with Wilson Criminal Defence, call 403-978-6052 or email us here.