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Acquittal for impaired driving after successful Charter motion and three day trial in Montreal

Acquittal for impaired driving after successful Charter motion and three day trial in Montreal

Mr. S was driving home late at night in a snowstorm after drinking a few beers several hours earlier at a friend’s house. Due to the conditions on the road and general exhaustion, he crashed his vehicle into a snowbank. Unfortunately for him, the police who arrived suspected intoxication on his part and requested a sample of his breath using an approved screening device. Due to some cultural and linguistic barriers, tempers flared, an officer put their hand on Mr. S, and there was a total breakdown of cooperation. Mr. S was charged with both refusing to comply with the demand for a breath sample and impaired driving. Fearing both immigration consequences and high fines, the team at S. Zalman Haouzi Avocat got to work and prepared for a lengthy trial to fight the charges. Firstly, through reading the disclosure and doing subsequent hours of legal research, it became clear that the police had engaged in an illegal arrest of Mr. S when they had arrested him for refusing their demand, because no proper demand was made in the first place. After informing the Crown of the forthcoming Charter application, they read the writing on the wall and dropped the failure to comply charge on their own accord. Bizarrely, the Crown decided to continue on the impaired driving charge (despite having zero physical evidence of impairment) so a three day trial ensued. Through joining forces with experienced co-counsel, employing rigorous cross-examination on Crown witnesses, allowing Mr. S to share his side of the story via candid testimony, and delivering thorough closing arguments, the judge recognized that the Crown had not proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt and correctly ordered an acquittal on the remaining charge.

Incarceration and sex offender’s registry avoided for child luring and underage prostitution charges in Longueuil

Mr. V responded to an advertisement posted by a sex worker on an adult website. The intent was to pay for an hour of sexual activity with someone who Mr. V believed was of legal age (based on the photos posted, the nature of the ad, the website the ad was found on, and the claim that the sex worker in question was the age of majority). Various text messages were exchanged and there was an agreement to meet at a hotel room where the deed was to be done. Upon arrival, the exchanging of some words, and payment, Mr. V was promptly arrested by police; it was an undercover sting operation where the “sex worker” was supposedly underage. Mr. V was looking down the barrel of a year-long prison sentence due to the mandatory minimums attached to the charges. However, the team at S. Zalman Haouzi Avocat went to work and masterfully negotiated with the Crown to drop the child luring charge altogether and to swap out the child prostitution charge with a regular prostitution charge to better reflect reality. Through a contested sentencing hearing, Zalman Haouzi successfully secured a suspended sentence for his client, and prevented his placement on the Sex Offenders Registry.

Acquittal for impaired driving charges after three day trial in Montreal

Mr. P was in his driveway, unwinding after a long day of work, loudly listening to music in the passenger seat of his vehicle. His neighbour didn’t appreciate the noise pollution and confronted him. Upon smelling alcohol on his breath, the neighbour called the police who arrested Mr. P for having care and control of a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol. When he was taken down to the station and given a Breathlyzer Test, he blew over twice the legal limit. Through dutifully studying the case and the applicable law, Zalman Haouzi realized that the police had not engaged in the required procedure for sample-taking and successfully got the Breathalyzer evidence excluded. The Crown proceeded to trial despite the lack of Breathalyzer evidence and put the arresting officer on the stand, hoping that their testimony would be enough to put Mr. P away. Unfortunately for them, Zalman Haouzi came to court ready to dutifully defend his client, employing a thorough cross-examination that led to him discovering that the officer hadn’t taken any notes of the event in question and that they were essentially making it all up as they went along (going so far as to claim that they had pulled Mr. P’s keys from the ignition….when Mr. P’s vehicle used a push button ignition). Zalman Haouzi’s cross-examination was so debilitating that the Crown actually asked him to put a stop to his line of questioning midway through because they intended to withdraw that charge! Mr. P was acquitted on every count, and to this day can be seen on his driveway, listening to music in his vehicle after a long day of work.

Criminal record avoided through a joint submission of a discharge for charges of assault with a weapon and forcible confinement

Mr. F was a firefighter who grew up in underprivileged circumstances. While he had worked hard to make a better life for himself and had put that part of his life behind him, he still had childhood friends who were involved in gang life. One day, one such childhood friend reached out to Mr. F and told him that he needed his help. He asked Mr. F to accompany him while he attempted to recover money that had been stolen from him by a rival. Thinking that the matter would be simple and that he was there simply for moral support, Mr. F agreed. Unfortunately, Mr. F’s friend had other plans, abducting various individuals and striking them with a hammer until they could direct him to the individual that had defrauded him. Mr. F never participated in any of the violence and even tried his best (in vain) to defuse the situation. Thankfully, despite the seemingly garish nature of the incident, when the police arrived on the scene, the victims’ injuries were of an immensely minor nature. Mr. F was jointly charged with his friend for forcible confinement and assault with a weapon simply for accompanying him that night. Everything that Mr. F had worked so hard to achieve was slipping out of his grasp. A criminal record would result in termination from his job and, given the nature of the offence, a potentially long period of incarceration. The team at S. Zalman Haouzi got to work immediately and worked with the client to compile everything from letters of recommendation to proof of his numerous hours of community service along with a persuasive apology letter and more. After explaining the situation in-depth to the fair-minded Crown assigned to the file, they agreed to submit a joint submission for an absolute discharge to the judge.

Criminal record avoided through negotiating drug trafficking charges down to simple possession in Montreal

Mr. O was caught entering a music festival with 200 pills of Ecstasy. He initially tried fleeing from police but was intercepted and promptly arrested for possession with intent to traffic. Realizing how seriously judges take drug trafficking offences, Zalman Haouzi got to work and negotiated with the Crown to modify the count from possession for the purposes of trafficking with simple possession. The Crown was tough but fair, seeking a non-carceral sentence that would give Mr. O a criminal record. Realizing what was at stake for this young, first-time offender, Zalman Haouzi made heartfelt submissions during the sentencing hearing and successfully secured for his client a conditional discharge, where Mr. O pled guilty to possession of Ecstasy in exchange for an undertaking to perform several hours of community service, avoiding a criminal record in the process and giving him a second lease on life.

Acquittal for domestic assault charges and deportation avoided in Laval

Mr. J was sponsoring his wife for immigration purposes and their marriage was going south. He was arrested and charged with multiple counts of assault, after it was alleged that he had brutally hit her on numerous occasions. Despite valiant attempts to settle the matter out of court and avoid a lengthy trial, Zalman Haouzi and the Crown were unable to reach a just agreement. A date was set and Zalman Haouzi dutifully prepared for trial. Of course, no one could have possibly prepared themselves for what was to come next. During his cross-examination of the complainant, she admitted in open court that she had made these allegations solely for immigration reasons (because when someone sponsors their spouse, they have to live together for two years unless there is an allegation of domestic violence; she wanted to maintain her immigration sponsorship but no longer wished to live with her husband in their broken marriage, so she invented domestic violence charges). Thankfully, this spontaneous declaration eroded whatever credibility she had left in the eyes of the judge and Mr. J was acquitted accordingly.

Criminal record avoided through negotiating impaired driving charges down to lesser penal infractions in Montreal

Ms. J drove recklessly through a red light near a construction zone on her way home after a long day of waitressing. She was pulled over by police who suspected impairment. She failed the approved screening device and was arrested and taken to the police station to blow into a Breathalyzer, which she narrowly failed, blowing barely ten mg above the legal limit. Through negotiating with the Crown and coming to the conclusion that there may have been a margin of error with the Breathalyzer results, Zalman Haouzi successfully persuaded the Crown to drop both impaired driving charges and instead swapped them out for the Highway Safety Code infraction of dangerous driving, giving Ms. J four demerit points rather than a criminal conviction which would have resulted in a criminal record.

Charges dropped for both impaired driving and failure to comply in Longueuil

Ms. M was driving home after putting in a long shift at the bar when she was pulled over by police for a routine traffic check. They claimed they smelled alcohol in the car and ordered that she blow into an approved screening device. Despite numerous efforts on her part, she was unable to successfully register a proper breath sample and she was charged accordingly with both failure to comply with a demand and impaired driving. After meeting with the client and listening to her side of the story, Zalman Haouzi learned that she had recently undergone facial surgery and that was why she was unable to blow into the device properly. After providing the Crown with the medical reports and sitting down with them to explain the situation, Zalman Haouzi successfully articulated that Ms. M hadn’t refused to comply with the breath demand but rather, was physically unable to comply with it at no fault of her own. The charges were dropped accordingly.

Deportation avoided through a successful Charter motion on charges of assaulting a police officer in Montreal

Deportation avoided through a successful Charter motion on charges of assaulting a police officer in Montreal

Mr. A had spent the night celebrating with a friend, and in the process, had consumed copious amounts of alcohol. By the time he started walking home, he was in a state of severe intoxication. Unfortunately for him, someone in the neighbourhood had called the police about a fight that had taken place in the vicinity that he was walking through and when police arrived, they mistakenly perceived him as the culprit. After detaining him in their vehicle and fruitlessly attempting to search for the other individual involved in the fight, they realized that Mr. A was innocent. Seeing his state of intoxication, they drove him to his house, where he lived with his sister. After breaking into his house, going into his sister’s room and waking her up, they dragged the still-handcuffed Mr. A into his home and threw him on his bed. After Mr. A’s sister pleaded with them to uncuff her semi-conscious brother and allow her to take care of him, the officer complied, placing his knee on Mr. A’s back, which startled Mr. A who reflexively kicked his leg backwards, striking the other officer in the knee. Mr. A was promptly arrested for assaulting a peace officer and taken down to the police station. Mr. A was an Iranian national and faced deportation. The team at S. Zalman Haouzi Avocat spent hours drafting a Charter motion, illustrating the myriad Charter violations that Mr. A had experienced at the hands of the police. Seeing the writing on the wall, the Crown agreed to drop the charges entirely in exchange for some community service, which Mr. A gladly accepted, content to be able to live his life freely in his newly-adopted country.

Criminal record avoided through presenting a joint submission of a discharge for a road rage assault incident in Montreal

Mr. C was driving when he was cut off by another individual, which prompted Mr. C to pull over, exit the vehicle and exchange some heated words with the other driver. His anger unfortunately got the better of him and he threatened the other driver, which prompted the other driver to call him a racial epithet. Mr. C claims he only put his fist close to the other driver’s face to send a message but the police thought differently and charged Mr. C with assault. Mr. C had a very important career as a financial advisor and a criminal record would put an end to that. Realizing the stakes, Zalman Haouzi quickly got to work and masterfully negotiated a joint submission with a fair-minded Crown who agreed that a conditional discharge that included several reformatory measures (like anger management courses) was in the best interests of everyone. While the judge was initially skeptical that the sentence sought was best, through his rigorous and thorough pleadings, Zalman Haouzi was able to convince the judge otherwise.

Criminal record avoided through negotiating a discharge for street racing in Montreal

Mr. H was street racing and the police quickly caught on and tried to intercept him. A high-speed chase ensued, with Mr. H successfully evading their detection temporarily. However, the police allocated a number of resources to catch him and he was eventually intercepted and arrested. Similar to the story of Rodney King, the police mercilessly beat Mr. H for the trouble he had caused them. The Crown sought hard time in prison, but after two years of intense negotiations, Zalman Haouzi presented the Crown with irrefutable evidence of police misconduct and corrupt attempts of a cover-up, resulting in the Crown agreeing to a conditional discharge with 240 hours of community service, avoiding a criminal record.

Both a criminal record and deportation avoided through persuasive pleadings at a sentencing hearing for failure to remain on the scene of an accident in Montreal

Mr. A was driving his family home when a driver next to him engaged in dangerous maneuvers that nearly caused an accident. Tempers flared and both drivers pulled over into a gas station. When the driver from the opposing vehicle stepped out with a golf club, Mr. A panicked and drove his vehicle directly into his would-be assailant. Panicking, he drove away. He was later charged with failure to remain on the scene of an accident causing bodily harm. Given his immigration status and employment, Mr. A simply couldn’t afford a criminal record. The team at S. Zalman Haouzi Avocat worked tirelessly to negotiate with the Crown, providing them with ample evidence to explain that this incident was entirely out of character for Mr. A and that a conditional discharge was in the best interests of justice. The Crown did not entirely agree and the matter went to a contested sentencing hearing. Thankfully, the judge was moved by Zalman Haouzi’s persuasive pleadings and Mr. A was spared a criminal record.

Frivolous assault with a weapon charge dropped in Montreal

Mr. D was driving his motorcycle home when he came across a construction zone. The construction worker in charge of directing traffic rerouted him two different times but since Mr. D’s house was one block over from the construction site and there was no other way home, he simply went through the construction site. The construction worker tried to block his exit and she claims that she was lightly struck by his motorcycle when he passed through the zone to get to his home. She pressed charges and he was charged with assault with a weapon, to wit, his motorcycle. Due to his employment, Mr. D was unable to sustain any kind of criminal conviction. Negotiations were fruitless. The only path forward was trial. After the team at S. Zalman Haouzi Avocat prepared themselves for what was expected to be a grueling ordeal, the Crown decided last minute to drop the charges in exchange for an apology, which Mr. D gladly provided.

Charges withdrawn for domestic assault incident in Sorel

Mr. P worked at a depanneur with his wife. After a tense day at work, the two were arguing and his wife alleged that he had assaulted her. The team at S. Zalman Haouzi sorted through the disclosure and discovered myriad inconsistencies in the complainant’s version of events. Through stellar negotiation with the Crown, Zalman Haouzi successfully got the charges withdrawn.

Criminal record avoided through a joint submission of a discharge for charges of Fraud over $5,000 in Gatineau

Mr. T had defrauded his bank through a somewhat sophisticated chequing scheme. Facing a serious carceral sentence, Zalman Haouzi spent countless hours negotiating with the Crown, convincing them that not only was prison unnecessary, but so was any criminal conviction, with both parties ultimately submitting a joint submission to the judge. Mr. T would go on to receive a conditional discharge with complete restitution of the funds that made up the subject of the charge.

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