Legal Question in Criminal Law in Canada

conciderations before sentencing

i was supposed to be a hostile witness in a criminal case involving

my son and the second last day of trial i was told by the crown that

i was no longer required to testify. i then was allowed in th court

room and listened to the last two days and then a week later the

verdict. at this point the judge made a comment to the crown that

he should not have excluded me from being a witness that i should

have been heard. any way the judge ruled guitly on 13 charges

and aquitted on 7, i believe the judge was fair as there was no jury

however i would like to know if its possible to be heard by the

judge by letter or verbal prior to sentencing or is it to late?

because i feel that what i have to say may have a impact on her

decision.

thank you for your time

lucien


Asked on 4/07/05, 11:46 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kenneth Golish Golish, Kenneth W.

Re: considerations before sentencing

Your question does not make it clear whether you were a victim in this case, that is, whether you were harmed by your son's conduct on one or more of the charges for which he was convicted. If you are a victim, you have an absolute right to give a victim impact statement to the court.

If not, but you wish to be heard, your son's lawyer may choose to call you or provide the judge with a letter from you. If what you have to say, in that lawyer's opinion, does not advance your son's case, you won't be called.

If your son's lawyer does not agree to call you, ask for an explanation if the reasons for that decision are not clear to you.

Finally, if you still wish to be heard, you should ask your son's lawyer or the Crown to tell the judge. The judge can then decide if he or she wants to call on you to say something about the case.

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Answered on 4/07/05, 4:56 pm


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