Mischief Charges in Ontario
To understand how you may be able to fight your Ontario mischief charges, first you must understand what “mischief” is.
“Wilfully” in this definition means that you did the act of mischief knowing that the act would probably cause the destruction etc. of the property and being reckless whether the destruction etc. occurs or not.
A possible defence would be that you did not intend to damage the property.
What if it Was My Property?
It can count as mischief even if you have a partial interest in the property you destroyed or damaged. An example would be if you trashed your matrimonial home.If you have a total interest in the property, it can still count as mischief if you destroyed or damaged your property with an intent to defraud.
Penalties for Ontario Mischief Charges
The offence of Mischief can cover a lot of acts. So this offence carries a wide range of punishments.
The penalty can be affected not only by the kind of conduct (what you did), it can also be affected by what kind of property was involved (what you did it to). For example, there is a part of the law that deals specifically with mischief to religious property.
