R. v. H.S.A.D.

(Alberta Court of Justice, Calgary - Harassment, Mischief). A lesson from the case of HSAD is that even though conflict issues often arise when a criminal defence lawyer represents both co-accused in a criminal law case, it is possible for the lawyer to represent multiple accused in certain circumstances. The benefit to using a single lawyer to handle more than one accused is that it may be possible in these situations for clients to save money on legal fee costs. 

HSAD were two accused charged with damaging a window while harassing a home during a juvenile variant of the game of Nicky-Nicky-Nine-Doors.  In this case, defence counsel had to be crystal clear that if the case proceeded to trial, that he would likely have to get off record due to conflict. There was an issue of conflict because only one of the accused acted in a manner to damage the window. However, at the pre-trial stage, it was clear that this case was relatively trivial and of a kind that was likely easily resolvable. With that in mind, Calgary criminal lawyer David Chow agreed to assist both accused on a single retainer for the purpose of trying to resolve the charges without a trial.  

This case was ultimately resolved by way of the withdrawal of the criminal charges. Both accused avoided a criminal record.

There are sometimes creative solutions to minimizing legal fees. David Chow is a Calgary criminal lawyer who will, where possible, do what he can to ensure that your wallet is not unnecessarily drained. All lawyers are required to address cases for conflict.  Co-accused cases often trigger conflict concerns because of the possibility of one accused pointing the finger at the other. In circumstances where co-accused interests may be at odds, a criminal defence lawyer cannot necessarily ethically represent both clients together.  A defence lawyer must always have his or her client's interests at heart. Searching Calgary criminal lawyers? Call David Chow for a free initial telephone consultation.