Defence Strategies for First-Time Offenders in Criminal Harassment Charges

1. Understanding Criminal Harassment Charges
2. Legal Defences for First-Time Offenders in Canada
3. Strategic Legal Actions
   • Entering into a Peace Bond
   • Diversion Programs in Canada
   • Conditional Discharge
   • Plea Bargain
4. Importance of a Clean Criminal Record
5. Choose the Right Defence Lawyer

Facing criminal charges in Canada for the first time is always a stressful experience. Even more so, when charged with criminal harassment, which is considered as a very serious offence with a higher penalty than common assault.

Whether you are already facing the charges or have only received a criminal harassment warning, it is best to get in touch with harassment lawyers at the earliest opportunity. Your lawyer can navigate you through the criminal process, provide legal advice for your criminal charges, and explain the best strategies that are most suited to your case. Here is a short overview of harassment charges and available criminal defences for your better understanding of available options.

Understanding Criminal Harassment Charges

In the Canadian Criminal Code, Section 264 (1), criminal harassment is defined as repeated conduct that causes the victim fear for their safety or the safety of their close ones. Possible scenarios of criminal harassment include repeatedly following someone, besetting or watching their residence or place of work, stalking, online criminal harassment, cyberbullying and similar types of threatening conduct.

There are several tests applied to determine if someone’s behaviour may qualify as harassment. These include:

• Repeated communication: The Criminal Code highlights that the conduct must be repeated to qualify as a criminal offence.
• Ongoing badgering of the victim: According to criminal law, the charge of criminal harassment can be laid out when the victim is continuously or chronically worried by the offender’s behaviour. It is not sufficient to be just “vexed, disquieted, or annoyed.”
• Threatening conduct: To qualify as criminal harassment, the conduct must be objectively threatening and cause a reasonable person to fear.
• Fear for safety: The criminal conduct can extend beyond just physical harm and include psychological harm and emotional duress. Importantly, a mere fear for financial well-being is not enough to qualify.
• Besetting or watching: These include approaching another person or actively observing them with a specific purpose.

Legal Defences for First-Time Offenders in Canada

While first-time offenders can expect more lenient treatment, facing the legal charges for the first time in your life can be daunting on its own. It is always helpful to have an experienced criminal lawyer by your side who will stand by you at all stages of the criminal process and can help you choose the most effective line of defence.

Whether a first-time offender or not, any defence strategy would always be case-specific. In general case, the list of common criminal defence strategies in Canada would include:

• Lack of intent: In harassment charges, there is no requirement to prove the intent directly. Instead, the judge can infer the presence of the “guilty mind,” aka mens rea, from facts. Still, if you can provide evidence that you acted without recklessness, you can challenge the “guilty mind” element of the crime and contest the prosecution case.
• Unreasonable fear: In some cases, it is possible to objectively demonstrate that the victim’s fear was unjustified or based on misinterpretation.
• Reasonable doubt: Another line of defence can be to challenge the credibility of the victim’s testimony and raise reasonable doubt about the prosecution case.
• Mistaken identity: A defence of mistaken identity presumes proving that you were not the person involved in the alleged harassment. Having an alibi confirming that you were not present at the time of the offence is the most convincing argument in your favour in this line of defence.
• Lawful authority: Having lawful authority to approach the victim, for example, to enforce child access, can help dismiss the harassment charges in certain cases.
• Violation of Charter rights: If your Charter rights were violated at any stage of the criminal process, you can weaken the prosecution case by challenging the admissibility and reliability of the evidence against you.

Strategic Legal Actions

Entering into a Peace Bond

One of the options that might be available to you as a first-time offender is entering into a peace bond with the accuser. While a peace bond does not result in a conviction, it requires you to “keep the peace” and fulfill other conditions imposed by the bond, for example, staying in the same jurisdiction or not contacting the alleged victim. Although the peace bond can appear in the police database, it does not result in a permanent criminal record.

Diversion Programs in Canada

Another opportunity to have the charges withdrawn may be available through a so-called diversion program, which can include community service, counselling, or a similar path. The Crown may offer a diversion instead of a trial to provide you with a chance to make up for the harm caused by the offence without a criminal conviction.

Conditional Discharge

You may also avoid conviction for harassment charges by getting a conditional discharge. While this path means you were found guilty, the conviction will not be registered and your conditional discharge will be expunged from the police records after a certain period, which typically makes three years.

Plea Bargain

Finally, you may want to consider entering into a plea bargain with the prosecution to accept a lesser charge instead of harsher harassment penalties. Since entering into a plea results in a criminal conviction, you should always consult your harassment lawyer first and weigh this decision especially carefully.

Importance of a Clean Criminal Record

Being a first-time offender in Canada means having a clean criminal record. However, if you get one, it can have a tremendous effect on your life, including any chances of getting lenient treatment from the judicial system in future, not to mention about potential effect on employment and other opportunities.

Since many employers in Ontario are routinely conducting “police record checks,” having a criminal record on file with the police will show up on the searches affecting your chances of getting hired. The same can apply to tenant screening, criminal record checks when crossing the border, and other opportunities. Maintaining a clean criminal record should be factored in when considering defence strategies and agreements with the prosecution.

Choose the Right Defence Lawyer

Choosing the right criminal lawyer is always pivotal when defending against charges. Since the crime under Section 264 of the Criminal Code is a hybrid offence, the Crown can choose between two paths when deciding how to charge someone with harassment in Ontario. The prosecution can decide to proceed either summarily, with a maximum penalty of two years less a day and/or a fine of up to $5,000, or by indictment, with a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

Meanwhile, a criminal lawyer experienced in defending first-time offenders will be able to advise on choosing the best path for combating the charges. By retaining the best criminal lawyer, you can significantly increase the chances of having the charges dropped or dismissed, obtain the most lenient outcome, secure a clean criminal record, or minimize the consequences of the criminal process.

Conclusion

In Canada, criminal harassment is viewed as a very serious offence that can lead to imprisonment of up to 10 years. Coupled with the far-reaching consequences of a criminal record, a conviction for harassment charges can have extremely disruptive consequences.

If you or your close ones face the possibility of criminal charges for harassment for the first time in the Greater Toronto Area, please don’t hesitate to contact Vilkhov Law criminal lawyer in Barrie, Brampton, Mississauga, Scarborough, Vaughan, Richmond Hill or anywhere in the GTA for a free initial consultation. Our legal team has extensive experience in defending against criminal charges for harassment involving first-time offenders and can advise you on the most effective legal strategies for contesting the allegations.