To find you guilty of second degree murder, the Crown must prove that: (a) the defendant caused someone’s death, (b) the defendant caused the death unlawfully, and (c) the defendant had the state of mind for murder. It is not necessarily a crime to cause another person’s death and the Crown must prove that the death was caused by an unlawful act. For an unlawful killing to be murder, the Crown must prove that the defendant meant to kill the victim or meant to cause bodily harm that he/she knew was likely to kill the victim and was reckless whether the victim died or not. If the Crown can show the murder was “planned and deliberate”, this would constitute first degree murder.
To find someone guilty of Accessory After the Fact to Murder, the Crown must prove that: (a) a person committed murder, (b) that the defendant knew that this person committed murder, (c) the defendant provided assistance to this person, and, (d) the defendant provided assistance for the purpose of helping this person to escape. To provide assistance to an individual means simply, to help them and in regard to this offence, the Crown must show that the defendant assisted the person to escape the legal consequences of what the person had done.
There are numerous ways to defend against Murder related offences. Please refer to my Recent Successes page to see examples of these types of cases on which I have been counsel. As you are surely aware, the consequences to receiving a conviction for a Murder related offence is severe and can be life imprisonment.
Again, the foregoing is only a summary. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. For a free consultation to discuss your case, please call me at
(416) 658-5855.
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