CASE STUDY: Assault of Ex-partner

Our client, Mr. I, was charged with assault following an incident at a bar that he was visiting with his previous partner. Mr. I was having a conversation with his ex-partner when the complainant approached and began forcing himself on her. Believing that a fight was about to ensue, the complainant alleged that Mr. I punched him. Mr. I immediately left the bar. While Mr. I was waiting for a cab ride home, the complainant went to find the police. Mr. I later got dropped off at his house.

At the time of his charge, Mr. I was in post-secondary school and was a coach for a sports team, so it was extremely important to him to have this unfortunate situation behind him. Mr. Lemaire had met with the Crown with the goal of having our client enter into a peace bond. This was an achievable goal, as Mr. I had already been volunteering and taking part in anger management programming.

Initially, the Crown had wanted our client to plead guilty to assault and receive twelve months of probation. Mr. Lemaire brought forth many factors that aided in the Crown’s final decision. While alcohol had been involved at the time of the incident, our client did not know the complainant and there was no history between the two. After conversations with Mr. Lemaire, the Crown agreed to consider lessening Mr. I’s charge if having this charge would jeopardize his future employment opportunities.

In the end, the Crown agreed to have our client enter into a peace bond after he completed counselling and community service. Once Mr. I had completed these, he entered a peace bond for twelve months, and his charges were withdrawn. This was an outstanding outcome for our client. Not only was he able to put this unfortunate situation behind him, but he was also given the opportunity to continue pursuing his post-secondary education, knowing that his future employment would not be in jeopardy.