Disclosure
In Canada, the Crown Attorney must provide an accused with a copy of the evidence that is against them. This process is called disclosure.
A Crown Attorney receives disclosure from police, whose job it is to collect this information prior to, during, and after arresting an individual and charging them criminally.
It is the responsibility of the Crown Attorney to read through all of this disclosure, and omit any confidential or privileged information that legally cannot be shared with an accused. This process requires careful attention to detail, and can be lengthy when there is particularly abundant disclosure in a case.
Disclosure is also an ongoing obligation on the Crown, which means that new information can be regularly shared with an accused at any point in the trial process.
Upon receiving disclosure, an accused person and their lawyer are able to review the information and request anything that they believe might be outstanding. A lawyer at this point will be able to assist in explaining the charges, as they will have the information before them, will help with explaining the disclosure itself and any of its anticipated impacts on the case, and provide viable legal advice. The final decision on how to proceed will be made by an accused person.
First court appearance
The first appearance in court is not a criminal trial, and the accused will not be required to defend themselves at this point. Instead, the purpose of this appearance is to indicate to the court how the accused will proceed and to enter a plea, where it is possible to do this after the accused has spoken to their lawyer and received disclosure. It is essential that anyone accused of a crime speaks with a lawyer before entering any plea, so that the accused fully understand the consequences of the decision.
Crown pre-trial
Where the accused enters a plea of not guilty, their criminal defence lawyer will generally meet with the Crown and conduct one or more Crown Pre-Trials. These meetings do not occur in court, and are an opportunity to hold discussions with the Crown in order to identify potential issues that might be raised at trial, discuss additional disclosure that might have been requested, and negotiate resolutions that would not require a trial, if possible in the circumstances. These pre-trial meetings will only occur once an appropriate amount of disclosure has been received, so that these conversations can be meaningful. Generally, those accused that have a criminal lawyer will not be required to attend these meetings.
Judicial pre-trial
In addition to a Crown pre-trial, there may be a Judicial pre-trial scheduled for your matter as well. These meetings are similar to Crown pre trials, but also involve a Judge, who will listen to the parties, read any materials that have been submitted, provide them with guidance regarding the strengths and the weaknesses of the case, and assist in outlining any additional steps required prior to conducting a trial.
The main purpose of a Judicial pre-trial is to ensure that the parties are effectively considering resolution options, and if they are not possible, that trial time estimates are made so that court resources can be effectively used.
Scheduled trial
If resolution has not occurred, once all pre-trial issues have been addressed and all required meetings are conducted, the scheduled trial will commence. Trials vary in length and complexity, and an accused person is required to attend their trial in order to enter their plea and to mount their defence.
The Crown Attorney will call their witnesses first, and an accused will have an opportunity to cross examine each witness. Once all of the Crown witnesses have testified and been cross examined, there will be an opportunity for the defence to call any evidence that they might wish to bring out through additional witnesses.
Final submissions are made by both sides and play an important role in summarizing and convincing the court of your position.
What you should do
The legal system can be complex to navigate and persons who are charged criminally are often frustrated at the pace through which their cases are processed. The reality is that there is an abundance of activity that must occur before an individual can even determine how they want to proceed with their case.
These activities are time consuming, but essential. An experienced criminal defence lawyer is an essential part of the criminal process. The lawyers at Collett Read are highly trained professionals, who, using their unique skills and practice, will determine the best line of defence and engage in a pointed and purposeful cross examination to expose weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case.
Further, if a resolution that is favorable to you is possible without requiring a trial, Collett Read will negotiate and work hard to achieve it. The lawyers at Collett Read will always have your best interests in mind and fight constantly for them throughout the whole criminal process.
