Welcome to this week’s Aitken Robertson Win of the Week. In this series, we highlight recent great results from our lawyers and paralegals, including wins at trial and withdrawals of charges.
This week, we are highlighting a recent resolution by our lawyer Richard Aitken and paralegal Melanie Van Aarde. Our client was charged with criminal harassment, mischief under $5000 and obstruction of property following an argument with her boyfriend. During this argument, it was alleged that our client, Ms. S, had been trying to prevent her boyfriend from leaving by taking his car key and attempting to block his car from moving.
Deeply affected by the charges and wanting to avoid jail time, Ms. S reached out to our firm for help. Through discussions with our client, it became clear that many of the claims made by the complainant had been fabricated or altered. The complainant claimed that Ms. S had lain on the ground to block his vehicle. In reality, he had her pushed her to the ground. Also, he claimed that upon his leaving, Ms. S had gotten in her car to follow him for almost twenty minutes. Ms. S stated that she had followed him for less than ten minutes. Ms. S had been on medication to support her mental health, but had not been on them at the time of her charge. Despite this, Ms. S had no criminal record or history of violence.
Ms. Van Aarde regularly met with the Crown to discuss this matter. At the Crown pre-trial, the Crown stated that if Ms. E pleaded guilty to mischief and harassment, she could enter a peace bond and undergo probation. Instead, Ms. Van Aarde suggested a peace bond along with an absolute discharge. The Crown stated that they were open to this idea, but were also considering having an absolute discharge if Ms. S would participate in mental health diversion. Ms. S agreed to the mental health diversion, and Ms. Van Aarde had the matter transferred to Adult Therapeutic Court, where it was eventually resolved. Upon entering a peace bond, Ms. S’s charges were withdrawn. This was an exceptional outcome for our client. Not only could she put this unfortunate situation behind her, but, thanks to our firm, she was allowed to focus on the betterment of her mental health as well.
