R. v. I.A.

(Calgary Court of Justice - Theft/Resisting Arrest/Assault). Though it is not advisable, Canadian law recognizes that a person subject to an unlawful arrest has the right to resist that unlawful arrest. IA's case was not one of these cases. In this case, IA was charged with petty theft arising from an incident at a grocery store. While being dealt with by loss prevention, IA attempted to escape. This resulted in a brief chase and struggle. This was IA's first offence. AT the time of this incident, IA was neither a Canadian citizen nor a permanent residence and as such was in jeopardy of being deported from Canada. 

Criminal defence lawyers in Alberta are tasked with the important responsibility of doing everything within their power,  according to law and legal ethics, to defend their client. In this case, IA's best defence was attempting to resolve the case in a manner that would (1) protect IA's presence in Canada and (2) if possible, avoid a criminal record outright. In this case, the Crown was not prepared to agree t any process that would result in the withdrawal of the charges. However, as part of early case resolution (ECR) for a first time accused, the defence and prosecution agreed to resolve the case by way of a guilty plea to "theft under $5000", the withdrawal of the more serious resist/assault charges, with a conditional discharge.  A conditional discharge is a sentencing option where an accused can, if conditions of probation are completed, avoid the long term consequences of a permanent criminal record. 

The best criminal defence lawyers in Alberta will carefully analyze the Prosecution's case for the purpose of determining the best strategic outcomes. Though there are a lot of benefits to setting a case for trial, there are times when the risk is simply too high -- especially if reasonable resolution options that save the client legal jeopardy and financial consequences are available. There are many Calgary criminal lawyers to choose from. Call David Chow for a free initial telephone consultation. David is a Calgary criminal lawyer and Calgary assault and theft defence lawyer with over two decades of criminal law experience.