Avocat en Détermination de la peine à Montréal
Qu’est-ce Que La Détermination De La Peine ?
Sentencing hearings take place after an accused person is found guilty at trial or if the accused chooses to forgo a trial by pleading guilty themselves. The latter scenario is immensely common, as roughly 95% of cases result in the accused taking a guilty plea. A sentencing hearing shifts the legal question from “can the state prove your guilt” to “what should the state do with you now”?
La Détermination De La Peine Implique-t-elle La Prison ?
Not necessarily. There are all sorts of sentencing options available that do not involve prison (fines, probation, house arrest, and discharges for instance). We are particularly adept at securing our clients a discharge, whereby they plead guilty but avoid the imposition of a criminal record, allowing them to put the matter behind them and move forward without any collateral consequences. Ultimately, when it comes to sentencing, we always try and secure the most lenient outcome possible, and we always seek to avoid firm prison sentences at all cost.
La Préparation En Vue De L’audience
As soon as we know that a sentencing hearing is coming, we begin planning months in advance, ensuring that our clients provide us with all key documentation (letters of reference, their CV, proof of employment, education transcripts, a letter of apology to the judge, etc.) and oftentimes encourage our clients to better themselves through rehab, therapy, anger management courses, Alcoholics Anonymous, and more. By the time they present themselves before the judge, they have usually already turned their lives around, making harsher penalties less likely.
La Déclaration Conjointe Des Faits
A joint submission is when both the defence and the prosecutor present the judge with a proposed sentence that is mutually agreed upon. Joint submissions are an ideal outcome because they are significantly more likely to be accepted by the judge, providing the accused with the comfort of knowing the outcome before they step into court. When it comes to securing an ideal sentence for our clients, we pride ourselves on our ability to collaborate with the prosecutor to present a joint submission.
Suggestion Commune Impossible : Que Faire?
In the event where we are unable to successfully negotiate a joint submission with the prosecutor, we persuasively make the case before the judge that the sentence that we’re seeking is the most just. On top of skillfully presenting a glowing picture of our clients’ circumstances, we present to the judge important case law of offenders who committed similar offences in similar circumstances to illustrate a (sometimes binding) legal basis for our sentencing submissions.
★ Si vous ou un de vos proches faites face actuellement à des accusations criminelles et êtes inquiets des conséquences potentielles d’une condamnation, vous pouvez nous contacter dès maintenant pour parler avec un avocat ou fixer une consultation.