Difference between revisions of "Defending Yourself Against a Criminal Charge"

If you are charged with a criminal offence, you may not be able to afford a lawyer or get legal aid. In that case, you may have to defend yourself. This script explains how to do so. You should defend yourself only as a last resort – the laws and the process can be complicated.  

#The law presumes you are innocent, even though you are charged with a criminal offence. As you walk into the court, the judge should be thinking, "I presume that this person is innocent."

#The Crown, called Crown Counsel (Crown), has to prove that you are guilty. Generally, you don't have to prove anything.

Your first appearance date is not the trial date. The first time you appear in court is the date you receive documents called “'''particulars'''” or “'''disclosure'''” from the Crown. Disclosure lists the allegations against you, and what the Crown will rely on to prove you are guilty.

There may be a big difference between what the disclosure says (what the police say you did) and what you believe actually occurred. There may also be things missing from the disclosure that you believe are important to your case. If so, you can ask the Crown to give them to you.

Before the trial, at an “arraignment hearing”, the court may ask you how you plead – '''guilty''' or '''not guilty'''. This is called '''entering a plea'''. If you don't do so, the court will enter a plea of “not guilty” for you. Pleading “not guilty” does not mean that you deny you committed the offence. It means that you are making the Crown prove the case against you, if they can. If you plead not guilty, the judge presumes you are innocent unless the Crown proves that you are guilty.

You will be asked to see the judicial case manager in the courthouse. They will give you a trial date, which can be anywhere from a few months to over a year away, depending on the type of charge. You will get two dates from the judicial case manager: a Trial Confirmation Hearing (TCH) date and a trial date. The TCH is usually 6 weeks before your trial. You must attend court on the TCH date to tell them you are ready to proceed on the trial date.

If you don't make a no-evidence motion, or you do, but lose it, then you have to decide whether to call any witnesses – either yourself or someone else – to tell your side of what happened. If you want to use a defense, such as self-defense, you would normally testify yourself, and then call other witnesses who could testify to support what you say. “Testify” means tell the judge, under oath, what happened. This means you promise (or swear or affirm) that what you say is the truth. No one can force you to testify – you decide. But if you don’t testify, the judge cannot consider any explanation you give. If you choose to testify, you are a witness and the Crown can question (cross examine) you – just as you can cross examine the Crown’s witnesses. You must answer all the questions, if they are about the charge against you.

The next step in the trial is called “'''submissions'''”. After all the Crown’s witnesses have testified, and after you have either called your witnesses or have decided not to call any, both you and the Crown can summarize your cases. The Crown can explain to the judge why you are guilty, and you can explain why you are not guilty. All you have to do is raise a reasonable doubt in the judge's mind. If you do, the judge has to find you not guilty.

Defending yourself is very difficult, and you should do it only as a last resort. At least try to talk to a lawyer and get some initial advice. Then you will be in a better position to decide whether you want to hire a lawyer to represent you in court.

Also, check the [http://mylawbc.com/pubs/subject.php?sub%5b%5d=9 criminal law publications] from the [http://legalaid.bc.ca/ Legal Services Society]. They explain what to do if you are charged with a crime, how to represent yourself in a criminal trial, and how to speak to the judge before you are sentenced. Other publications explain what to do if you are charged with one of a number of specific offences.

[updated December 2015]