R. v. M.M. – Merritt Provincial Court

Charges: Assault, breach of release order (x3)

Issue: Whether there was a reasonable prospect our client could be convicted of all charges at trial, and what the appropriate sentence would be.

Result: Mr. Johnston persuaded the Crown they were unlikely to prove most of the charges at trial given issues with the credibility and reliability of Crown witnesses and the fact our client had a valid defence to one of the charges. Our client pled guilty to one count of breach, which he had been prepared to admit from the outset, and the Crown directed stays of proceedings on all other counts. Given information Mr. Johnston provided about our client’s circumstances at the time of the offences and his rehabilitative efforts since, the Crown also  agreed to support a time-served sentence with no probation, even though our client had a lengthy criminal record and had recently been convicted of several breaches for which he had received far longer jail sentences. No further jail. No probation.