JHG
SUCCESS
STORIES
DOMESTIC ASSAULT, FIREARMS
R. v. R.Z. | 2025 | Newmarket
Client caught his wife cheating after years spent trying to navigate her alcoholism and he decided to end the relationship. After finding a temporary residence and advising her that he was leaving, she called the police and invented a story of prolonged and historical domestic abuse. The client was arrested, his legal firearms were seized, and his son was removed from his care. From the first conversation with the crown, we offered a peace bond to keep the couple apart. The crown instead wanted a jail sentence. It took 26 months to get to trial and on day 2 of 5, after the complainant was caught lying on the stand and admitting to perjury, the Crown changed their position and agreed to a peace bond for a withdrawal of all of the charges.
Firearms, Fentanyl
Possession of a Firearm, and Fentanyl
R. v. R.L. | HAMILTON
Client charged with a firearm found in the back of his friends vehicle after they both fell asleep in the car, parked on a residential street. The Crown withdrew the firearm charges after months of negotiation but the feds pursued serious drug charges as the police alleged that the client discarded the drugs while handcuffed in the back of the cruiser. It took a charter application challenging the initial detention and arrest, combined with the police failure to provide rights to counsel, but after a two year battle we were ultimately successful in having all charges stayed.
Firearm Possession
R. v. E.P.C. | TORONTO
Client tried to sleep off a night of partying in the front seat of his vehicle and ended up arrested for impaired driving. The police conducted an inventory search of the car before towing it, and a loaded handgun was found in the back seat, in a satchel, containing the client’s passport. After a 4 day trial in Ontario Court, the client was acquitted when the Crown failed to prove that he had knowledge and control of the gun in the car.
Firearms, Fentanyl, Cocaine
Possession of a Firearm, Fentanyl, and Cocaine for the Purpose of Trafficking
R. v. J.B.A | 2025 | NEWMARKET
Client was the subject of an 11 month police investigation in which he was “flagged” on a police database as someone who should be investigated for drug charges. As a result of the flag on his file, police in 3 jurisdictions conducted roadside stops to investigate him on 7 different occasions. Each stop was a violation of the client’s constitutional rights, as he was never told the true purpose and never informed of his right to remain silent or provided with the opportunity to speak to a lawyer. Ultimately, his vehicle and home were the subject of a search warrant where police located a loaded handgun, a quantity of cocaine, fentanyl, meth, and cash; all of which become the subject of a successful Charter Application that ended the prosecution with a stay of all charges and a forfeiture order that returned the client’s seized cash.
Firearm Possession
R. v. A.V.D. | 2025 | HAMILTON
After a very short period of surveillance, the police obtained a warrant to search for a firearm at the client’s apartment. They arrested him down the street and asked incriminating questions prior to providing him his rights to counsel. Despite a series of constitutional issues, his first lawyer set a trial challenging only his possession of the firearm and not the Charter violations committed by the police. Shortly before his trial, he questioned the lawyer’s strategy and ultimately terminated the relationship. We took a different approach and focused on the police misconduct: the failure to investigate the client, the lack of connection between the alleged crime and the residence, the failure to provide rights to counsel, and the failure to hold off questioning. We filed our Application and the Crown promptly withdrew all charges.
Second-Degree Murder
R. v. D.D. | 2025 | BRAMPTON
In March 2022, the client called me for legal advice. He had killed someone the night before and needed my help negotiating his surrender. He had gotten into an altercation with a relative who tried to break into his home. The fight spilled out on to their front lawn and in a sudden fit of anger, the client stabbed his cousin dozens of times, 8 serious wounds, 4 of them fatal. After a 3 year battle and two week jury trial, he was acquitted of murder.
P4P Cocaine
R. v. T.L. | 2025 | BRAMPTON
The client and his friends parked their vehicle at a strip club when police on “proactive patrol” approached. They claimed to see an open bottle of alcohol in the vehicle which led to a search of the car and the client, despite the fact that he was not the driver or in possession of the alcohol. After locating cocaine and cash, they arrested him and seized the drugs, money, and his Louis Vuitton satchel. Following a Judicial Pretrial highlighting all of the ways in which the police violated his constitutional rights, the Crown agreed that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction and withdrew the charges. We then secured the return of his money and his satchel of course.
Break and Enter
R. v. K.E. | 2025 | HAMILTON
The client was charged with break and enter, along with two co-accused. The co-accused parties took months to move through the pre-trial stages, delaying our client from moving his case forward. As a result of the delays caused by the co-accused, the client’s trial was set to complete 14 days beyond the 18 months ceiling in R. v. Jordan. After hearing arguments from Associate Katrina Friesen, the Judge agreed that the client’s Charter s. 11(b) right to a trial within a reasonable time had been infringed and stayed the charges. Read the decision below.
Firearms
R. v. O.Y. | 2025 | TORONTO
The client was charged with a list of firearms offences after he made the “mistake” of walking through the Entertainment District of Toronto on a Friday night, sparking the suspicions of security guard at Ruby Soho, who alerted a cop, who then illegally detained and searched the clients satchel, finding a firearm and full clip inside. Two years later, 6 Trial Dates, and two Charter Applications later, the client was acquitted. Read the decision at the link below.
Firearm Possession
R. v. A.M. | 2024 | TORONTO
Client came to me with three interconnected cases. The police had been investigating his Instagram account and executed a search warrant on a residence he had ties to looking to seize his devices (phone, computer, tablets, etc.). In addition to locating electronics, they also found a gun inside a satchel, inside a closet, in the bedroom the client had been sleeping in. After beating both cases related to his Instagram account (one the crown withdrew and the other we won at trial), we successfully defended the gun charges when the Crown failed to establish he had knowledge of the firearm. After three long years on restrictive bail conditions, he finally cut off the ankle monitor and remains without a criminal record.
Second-Degree Murder
R. v. A.B. | 2024 | TORONTO
My youngest client ever, at 13 years old, AB was charged along with 7 other girls in the swarming death of a homeless man named Kenneth Lee, who was beaten and stabbed during an altercation that was caught on CCTV footage and witnessed by several bystanders. I successfully argued for bail at the outset of the case and then negotiated a plea to manslaughter after the preliminary hearing. During the litigation, we learned that my client had been subjected to 6 illegal strip searches by the detention centres she was housed at. At the sentencing hearing, I argued that she should receive 3:1 credit for the time spent in closed custody (where the illegal searches occurred) plus her time in open custody totaling 15 months and that this was enough time in custody given her lack of criminal record, intoxication at the time of the offence, and the counseling she was doing to address underlying issues. The judge agreed and no further custody was ordered. He also agreed that an additional 21 months of probation, allowing her to continue the counselling programs she needed, would meet the ends of justice in this case.
Loaded Firearm
R. v. R.C. | 2024 | OSHAWA
Client was charged with a loaded firearm found in the back seat of his vehicle after being pulled over by police for being a black man driving a Mercedes in Oshawa. Despite the judge finding that the search of the vehicle was illegal, she would not exclude the firearm from the trial. During the Charter Application however, the jail repeatedly failed to bring my client to court, delaying the matter by 3 months. I argued that the delays violated the client’s constitutional right to a trial in a reasonable amount of time and that the charges should be stayed. This argument was successful and as a result all charges were stayed.
Assault with a Weapon, Noxious Substance, Mischief
R. v. J.M.W | 2024 | COBOURG
Assault with a weapon x2, Possess weapon x2, Administer noxious substance x2, and Mischief over $5000 x2
After a short but contentious trial with two lying complainants, my client was acquitted of all charges. From the day he hired me, he was adamant that the alleged victims were lying about the altercation and after 3 days of cross examinations it was clear to everyone in the courtroom that their stories were not to be believed.
P4P Fentanyl, Cocaine, Meth, Proceeds of Crime
R. v. J.P. | 2024 | TORONTO
Sometimes the win is in keeping a client out of jail when you know they will not survive jail. Here the client was charged with the types and quantities of drugs that would have made a penitentiary sentence necessary had he lost after trial (likely 5-7 years given the amount of fentanyl alone). After filing a Charter Application to challenge the warrant and following extensive negotiations with the Crown, he agreed to withdraw the fentanyl count and the client pled guilty to possessing cocaine and meth for the purpose of trafficking. He was then sentenced to 2 years less a day to serve on house arrest with exceptions for employment, and education for the first year and a curfew for the second year.
First-Degree Murder
R. v. J.J. | 2024 | NEWMARKET
18 year old client charged with first degree murder as the driver involved in the planned execution of a drug dealer who was shot, stabbed, and beaten at his Richmond Hill home. We secured bail four months after his arrest and throughout the 3 years of litigation he was able to complete high school. Unfortunately his phone records, surveillance videos, and statement to the police made an acquittal impossible but the crown eventually agreed that a life sentence was in no one’s interest and we resolved the case with a plea to manslaughter and a 5.5 year sentence.
Kidnapping, Robbery, Firearms, Assault
Kidnapping, Robbery with a firearm, Possession of a firearm, Forcible confinement, Assault cause bodily harm.
R. v. K.W. | 2024 | BRANTFORD
The client came to me after representing himself for almost a year and getting nowhere with the crown. He knew his rights had been violated when the police arrested him sleeping in his car but he could not articulate how. It took us 6 months to receive the police body cams which showed that the cops had him under investigation for nearly 40 minutes without giving him his Rights to Counsel and during that time they forced him to create the basis for his own arrest by having him turn on the vehicle to show he had control of it while visibly impaired. After taking the Crown through the series of charter breaches he realized there was no public interest in proceeding and withdrew the charges immediately.
Transport & Distribution of Unlicensed Tobacco
R. v. K.B. | 2024 | CAYUGA
Client charged with purchasing, possessing, distributing, and transporting almost 62 million grams of fine cut tobacco. Upon conviction, he was facing mandatory fine of $34 million dollars. At the end of the first day of trial, after cross examining the officer in charge and landlord of the alleged storage facility, client was acquitted of all charges.
P4P Fentanyl, Proceeds, and Possess Firearm
R. v. J.T. | 2024 | Hamilton
Sadly I was not able to cross examine the lead officer on this very illegal arrest and subsequent search of a vehicle wherein police located a loaded handgun and 3 ounces of fentanyl. After filing our charter application challenging the officer’s actions, both the federal crown and provincial crown withdrew all charges.
Impaired Driving
Impaired operation & refuse to provide breath sample.
R. v. I.C. | 2024 | BRAMPTON
The client came to me after representing himself for almost a year and getting nowhere with the crown. He knew his rights had been violated when the police arrested him sleeping in his car but he could not articulate how. It took us 6 months to receive the police body cams which showed that the cops had him under investigation for nearly 40 minutes without giving him his Rights to Counsel and during that time they forced him to create the basis for his own arrest by having him turn on the vehicle to show he had control of it while visibly impaired. After taking the Crown through the series of charter breaches he realized there was no public interest in proceeding and withdrew the charges immediately.
Cocaine
Possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine & Proceeds of crime.
R. v. A.M. | 2024 | BRAMPTON
The client came to me after he set trial dates with another lawyer who he had no confidence in. The lawyer had encouraged him to plead to a two year sentence, which he refused to do. The client fired that lawyer, hired us, and we immediately requested the disclosure, assuming it would be sent quickly having already been disclosed to previous counsel. My office was shocked to learn that some of the most significant items of disclosure had never been provided, including drug logs, property reports, surveillance notes and videos, police notes from the search, and photos from the search. The Crown could not even say where in the house the cocaine had been located! After pressing the Crown for 4 months to receive the missing items, they decided to withdraw the charges without ever setting new trial dates.
Fentanyl, Cocaine, Meth and Weapons Possession
Possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, and meth, Possess weapon x3, Proceeds of crime.
R. v. J.P. | 2024 | Toronto
The client was the target of a search warrant in which there were four separate confidential informants but almost no investigation conducted by the police to corroborate their sources. When the warrant was executed, the police found almost an ounce each of fentanyl, cocaine, and meth both on him and in his room, in addition to finding an air pistol, knife, and a baton. We set a six-day trial and filed a Charter Application challenging both the warrant and the police failure to call his lawyer immediately upon arrest. It was all we had, given the fact that the drugs and weapons were found on him and in the room his family (who were home at the time) identified as his. After reading our Application, however, the Crown recognized we both had risks at trial and offered to resolve with a plea to the cocaine and meth for a conditional sentence of two years; withdrawing the fentanyl count (which would have attracted a 4-5 year sentence on its own) and all of the weapons charges and the client will never see the inside of a cell.