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Criminal charges we defend.
We defend criminal charges in every court in Ontario, from urgent bail hearings to trials and appeals. Find the charge written on your paperwork, or speak with a lawyer before your next step.
Call 416-297-7200Find your charge
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How we can help
Search the charge written on your paperwork, or the section number printed beside it.
33 areas · A to Z
Nothing here matches that.
That does not mean we can’t help — call 416-297-7200.
Not sure which one is yours? The charge on your paperwork may be worded differently from the name we use here — try the words you would say out loud, or the section number. If nothing matches, send us what you were given and we will tell you what it is.
What happens after a charge is laid
An Ontario criminal case often moves through the same prosecution sequence whatever the charge is.
Arrest or charge
Police lay the charge. You are either released from the station on an undertaking with conditions, or held for a bail hearing. What you say to police at this stage is evidence that can be used against you, and you are not required to say anything.
Bail hearing
If you were held for a bail hearing, you must be brought before a justice within 24 hours. The court has to impose the least restrictive form of release that answers the Crown’s concerns, and detention is the exception rather than the starting point.
First appearance
Nothing is decided at this court date and no evidence is heard. The purpose of this appearance is administrative: to confirm you have hired counsel, requested disclosure, and to set the next court date to track progress. A lawyer can usually attend for you, so you may not have to be there even if your court paperwork requires you to attend.
Disclosure
The Crown attorney must share everything relevant to your case in its possession, whether it helps the case against you or undermines it. Disclosure arrives in instalments — police notes, witness statements, surveillance video, forensic results — and the prosecutor's obligation to share evidence does not end until the case does.
Crown pre-trial
Defence counsel and the Crown attorney will meet to discuss evidence issues, the strength of the case, and whether the case can be resolved without a trial. This is where a withdrawal, a diversion program, a peace bond, or a plea to something less serious can be negotiated.
Judicial pre-trial and election
A meeting with a judge, off the record, to narrow the issues and estimate how long a trial would take or to canvass a judge's views on a legal issue or potential resolution proposal. In most Ontario courts, a trial date cannot be set until a judicial pre-trial has happened. For an indictable offence, this is also where the accused elects the mode of trial: a judge of the Ontario Court, a judge alone in the Superior Court, or a judge and jury.
Some criminal cases in Ontario end at or before this stageCharges can be withdrawn, diverted, or resolved without a trial. Everything below happens only in the cases that cannot be solved in any other way.
Preliminary inquiry
A hearing that tests whether there is enough evidence to put the accused on trial at all, and which lets the defence hear key witnesses under oath first. Since 2019, a preliminary inquiry is available only where the offence carries a maximum of 14 years or more and the accused has elected trial in the Superior Court and chosen to have a preliminary inquiry— which is why most cases skip this step entirely.
Trial
The Crown attorney must prove every element of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. Charter applications — an unlawful search, a breach of the right to counsel, unreasonable delay etc. — are usually argued at or shortly before this stage, and can end the case without the evidence ever being weighed by the trial judge. The accused person can also testify at trial and call evidence to undermine the strength of the Crown's case.
Verdict
An acquittal ends the case and there is no criminal record. A finding of guilt moves the case to sentencing, which is an additional hearing, usually taking place on a separate day in court before the judge who heard the trial evidence.
Sentencing
Usually a separate hearing, often preceded by a pre-sentence report or, where the accused is Indigenous, a Gladue report. The range of sentence runs from a discharge that leaves a person with no conviction on the record through to a penitentiary jail term.
Appeal
Any criminal conviction or a sentence can be appealed at least one time, but the notice period to trigger an appeal request is short and it runs from the day of sentencing (not the day a person is found guilty), not from the day you decide to appeal it. When a person is sentenced to jail time, obtaining a release from custody while an appeal is pending is a separate legal application that can be brought as part of the appeal process.
Where cases are heard
Which court a matter is in changes the available procedures, the timeline, and who can decide the case.
Ontario Court of Justice
Where every charge begins, and where most cases are tried and resolved. Judge alone, no jury. It also hears appeals of Provincial Offences Act matters.
Superior Court of Justice
Indictable charges where the accused elects to be tried there, or cases required to proceed in that court by judge alone or by judge and jury. Summary appeals from conviction and from sentence are also heard here.
Court of Appeal for Ontario
Indictable appeals from conviction and from sentence, and applications for release while an indictable appeal is pending.
Supreme Court of Canada
Appeals raising a question of national importance, almost always with leave (permission) after all other levels of appeal have been exhausted.
How long a case is allowed to take
The Supreme Court of Canada set a presumptive ceiling on the time from the charge to the end of trial.
*Delay caused by the defence is subtracted before the total is measured against the delay ceiling. Above the ceiling, the Crown can still justify the time the trial has taken by showing exceptional circumstances — a discrete event outside its control, or a case complex enough to justify the time the trial has taken.
Defence process
A clear plan from the first call
Being charged with a criminal offence is chaotic. The work of defending you is not. Every file in our office follows the same four stages, so you always know what is being done and what comes next.
Immediate risk assessment
We identify the next deadline, court date, release condition, police request, or limitation period that needs attention.
Disclosure and evidence review
We review the Crown disclosure, police notes, witness statements, video, digital records, and any missing evidence.
Defence strategy
We conduct legal research, assess Charter issues, evidentiary weaknesses, credibility problems, expert needs, and negotiation options.
Resolution, trial, or appeal
We move the case toward the strongest available outcome through negotiation, contested hearings, trial, or appellate review.
Questions we are asked first
Do I have to go to court myself?
Not for most appearances. A lawyer can attend routine dates for you, including the first appearance, so you may not have to take time off work or explain an absence. You do have to attend your trial, and you must attend any date the court specifically orders you to.
The police want a statement. Should I give one?
You are not required to say anything, and what you say becomes evidence that can be used against you. That is true whether or not you have been charged, and whether or not you believe the explanation helps you. Speak to a lawyer before you decide to speak with the police.
Can a charge be resolved without a criminal record?
Sometimes. Diversion, a peace bond, a withdrawal, a stay or a discharge can all end a case without a conviction, and that is most realistic on a first, lower-severity charge. It is generally not available where the offence carries a mandatory minimum sentence or a maximum jail sentence of fourteen years or life.
How long will my case take?
The Supreme Court set a presumptive ceiling of 18 months for trials in the Ontario Court of Justice and 30 months for trials in the Superior Court of Justice, measured from the charge to the end of trial. Most cases finish well inside that, because most resolve before a trial date is ever reached.
Do you take cases outside Toronto?
Yes. We appear in courthouses across Ontario, including Brampton, Newmarket, Oshawa, Milton, Barrie, Hamilton and London. The office is in Toronto; the practice is province-wide.
Recognized by
The lawyers at Daniel Brown Law have defended people across Ontario on charges from impaired driving and domestic assault to sexual offences and homicide. Daniel Brown Law has been named one of Canada's Best Law Firms by The Globe and Mail, a Top Criminal Law Boutique by Canadian Lawyer Magazine, and ranked Tier 1 in Canada for criminal defence and appellate law by Best Law Firms. Daniel Brown, Mark Halfyard, Hilary Dudding, Lindsay Board and Colleen McKeown are listed in The Best Lawyers in Canada for criminal defence, and Chloe Boubalos, Samantha Bondoux, James Bray and Robert Nanni are named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2027. The firm has been a frequent winner of the Toronto Star Readers' Choice Awards for Best Lawyer, Best Law Firm, and Best Legal Services.
You don’t need to know what you’re charged with to call us.
Bring whatever the police gave you. We’ll tell you what the charge means, what the potential consequences are, and what you can start doing to improve your outcome in court — before you decide anything.
Call 416-297-7200Send us the details