A part of my practice at my law firm is made up of representing people who have run into difficulties with the police or other law enforcement agencies.  This specialty is most commonly called criminal law which is a bit of a misnomer in that the people we represent are only accused of a crime and are not actually criminals until convicted by a judge in a court of law.

As you can imagine, a good chunk of the criminal law that I practice has to do with automobile related offenses like driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, dangerous driving, speeding, and all the other offenses under the Highway Safety Act and Criminal Code.  I'm often asked how I can defend criminals or as my wife sarcastically likes to put it "put another drunk driver back on the road."

The fact of the matter is that the role of the criminal defense attorney is to participate in the justice system in order to make sure that the innocent are not wrongfully convicted and that the guilty are properly punished. 

 Just about every driver gets at least one parking ticket in his or her lifetime.  Most drivers also pick up a ticket for a moving violation or two.  Although these are more serious than parking tickets the penalties for speeding or driving through a red light are usually no more than the payment of a fine plus a few demerit points.  None of these violations are criminal acts.

For most of us this makes up the sum total of our brushes with the law.  Nonetheless driving a car is about the quickest way that you can go from ordinary citizen into convicted criminal. A momentary lapse of judgment may lead you to jail.

The Criminal Code contains several driving related offenses as well.  These offenses, include, hit-and-run, dangerous driving, and even assault with a deadly weapon (your car).  Sometimes what you did as a crime and sometimes it's just an accident.  The final judgment will often be based on your state of mind as well as what you physically did. The intent to commit a crime with your car, whether through Road rage or just intentionally dangerous driving can turn an accident into a criminal investigation. 

Sometimes you yourself don't even know or remember what you were thinking when the accident occurred. Were you angry?  Did you turn around to get something from the back seat instead of paying attention to the road?  Were you in such a big hurry to get someplace that you ignored the rules of the road? It's at this time that all the forces of the criminal justice system come into play.

The police have the expertise, the investigators, the CSI’s and all the crown prosecutors and their resources to help build a case to prove that an accused is guilty of the crime he or she is charged with.  In most cases they are right and the charges inevitably lead to the guilty party being punished for his or her crimes.

On the other hand, in order to make sure that none of this investigative power including the intimidation effect that comes with guns and uniforms is misused, the Constitution provides every accused with the rights guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  First and foremost of these rights, is the right to consult with a defense lawyer as soon as you have been arrested in order to preserve your legal rights and make sure that you do not accidentally incriminate yourself because you are in a state of stress. 

In addition to making sure that our clients legal rights are maintained a defense lawyer also does his or her best to make sure that innocent parties are not wrongfully convicted.  The police may look at a traffic accident and decide that it was the result of someone's criminal negligence or intentionally dangerous driving.  A defense lawyer will bring to the attention of the court any discrepancies in the prosecution's case in order to raise a reasonable doubt in the judges’ mind that the accused committed a crime and convince the court that the event truly was an accident.

Lastly a defense lawyer is there to make sure that even if you are guilty you are given a reasonable sentence that is in line with current jurisprudence and the state of the law.  There is a large amount of latitude in the sentences that can be handed out and the defense lawyer will often work with the crown and the courts to make sure that the punishment really does fit the crime.