* All identifying information has been edited to protect client confidentiality.
Wayne was charged with assault causing bodily harm against a police officer. This is a very serious criminal offence. The Crown wanted jail time, even though Wayne had no criminal record.
After a night out with friend, the police stopped Wayne on the street outside a bar. Wayne tried to leave, as he was not under investigation for any offence. The police grounded Wayne, and one officer was hurt in the process. The officer claimed that Wayne was grounded because he tried to punch the officer. We obtained surveillance video from the bar that showed this was not the case.
We obtained a surveillance video from the bar. It showed that Wayne did not try to punch the police officer. Nevertheless, the Crown was not initially prepared to withdraw the charges.We set the matter down for trial and filed extensive Charter motions with the court. We believed that Wayne’s detention as illegal and that he was entitled to leave. Citing the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Mann, we argued that: “Absent a law to the contrary, individuals are free to do as they please. By contrast, the police (and, more broadly, the state) may act only to the extent that they are empowered to do so by law.”
The Crown withdrew all charges after we filed extensive motions detailing the violations of our client’s Charter rights.