Criminal Defense Lawyers in Toronto, Canada

Caramanna, Friedberg LLP

700 Bay Street
Suite 405 (Box 144)
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z6
Canada

(416) 924-5969

(416) 924-9973

www.cflaw.ca

Contact Matthew Friedberg

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Law Firm Overview

Caramanna, Friedberg LLP is a leading criminal defense law firm located in Toronto, Ontario. We specialize in providing expert legal advice and protecting the rights of individuals facing criminal and quasi-criminal charges in the Ontario courts. Our firm's lawyers have extensive experience in the field of criminal law and have successfully defended persons charged with every type of criminal offence.

Skillful representation is provided from the earliest stages of the criminal process through to trial, with an emphasis on client service, professionalism, and zealous advocacy. Every case receives special attention and every available resource is utilized in order to ensure positive results for the client. Counsel's combination of knowledge, experience, and dedication provide for the highest quality legal representation possible.

If you or someone you know is looking for a Toronto Criminal Lawyer and is in need of counsel in relation to a criminal matter, please feel free to consult us, the Best Criminal Lawyers in Toronto. Legal Aid is available if you need assistance.

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Assault with a Weapon; Bail Hearings; Bail Reviews; Break & Enter; Charter Applications; Domestic Assault; Extradition; Hijacking; Kidnapping; Criminal Harassment; Impaired Driving / Over 80; Immigration Prosecutions; Internet Related Charges; Pardons; Possession; Production; Professional Disciplinary Proceedings; Quasi-Criminal Prosecutions; Sexual Assault; Speeding; Trafficking; Young Offenders.

Practice Areas Description

Caramanna, Friedberg LLP's lawyers have extensive experience in the field of criminal law and have successfully defended persons charged with every type of criminal offense:

- All Weapons Offenses

In Canada, there are many offences dealing with the Possession of weapons. It is generally illegal, for example, to carry a weapon in a concealed fashion in a public place. It is also illegal to carry a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Whether a particular item at a specific time constitutes a 'weapon' however, is a very fact specific inquiry. Some items, like firearms, are almost always going to constitute a weapon in virtually any circumstance. Other items however, can constitute weapons in the particular circumstances in which they are used. Knives, baseball bats, rocks, automobiles and even snowballs have all been found to be weapons in certain circumstances.

- Assault with a Weapon

An assault is, generally speaking, the application of force, or the threat of force, against another individual without their consent and without legal justification or excuse. 'Begging' while carrying a weapon is also considered an assault. The crime of Assault with a Weapon is the application, or threatened application, of force against another person where a weapon is used as a tool in respect of the force. Therefore, knowingly waving a knife in the direction of a person, pointing a firearm, or striking another individual with an object can all constitute an Assault with a Weapon.

- Bail Hearings

At a bail hearing, the accused person will have the opportunity to make their case for release, and a judge or justice of the peace will have the option of releasing that person on bail, allowing them to live in the community (usually under certain restrictions) until their case is heard in Court. Most bail hearings include the Crown informing the Court of the allegations made by the police, and can include an accused person, or an accused person's potential sureties, giving evidence on the witness stand in order to assist the Court in making a decision. In Canada, there is a constitutional right for every person to be released on bail pending trial unless there is just cause to hold them in custody.

- Bail Reviews

When a person is denied bail at their bail hearing, the general rule is that he or she must remain in jail until their case is dealt with according to law in the Courts. However, there is a process by which a detained individual can seek a review of the decision to detain them pending trial. This process is called a Bail Review. A Bail Review is not simply a 'second kick at the can' as it were. When an individual seeks redress by way of a Bail Review, they must show either that a) since the bail hearing, the circumstances of the case have changed materially such that, if the bail hearing judge were dealing with the case today, the decision made would have been different or b) the bail hearing judge made an error in law.

- Break & Enter

The offence of Break and Enter envisions the Accused breaking and entering into a place with the intention of committing an indictable offence. Most commonly, Break and Enters are committed by people attempting to steal property and thereby committing the indictable offence of theft while Breaking and Entering. If an Accused does not have the intention to commit an indictable offence, but unlawfully enters a premises, while the Accused may not be guilty of Break and Enter, he may be committing other offences in the Criminal Code.

- Charter Applications

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms contains many rights all people in Canada have. The Charter protects all people from unlawful state intrusions into our lives. Sometimes the state violates the rights of Accused people during the course of an investigation and sometimes afterwards. In the context of criminal law, most often these state intrusions are committed by the police. When state conduct violates the rights of an Accused, an Accused can apply to the Court to redress any violation of their rights by the state during the course of a trial.

- Domestic Assault

There is no separate offence of Domestic Assault in the Criminal Code. However, given the sensitive nature of assaults committed within personal relationships, many courthouses in the GTA have created specialized courtrooms that deal exclusively with domestic assault cases. These Courts often have their own specialized team of Prosecutors that work in these courtrooms. To be classified as a domestic assault, the Accused and Complainant need not be married. The relationship can be any personal relationship between two people whether they are dating, living together, common law, married and between a man and a woman or same sex couples.

- Professional Disciplinary Proceedings

As a part of their requirement to practice their profession, many professionals must belong to a licensing body. Sometimes a complaint is made to a licensing body against a professional. In certain circumstances, these licensing bodies have the ability to hold disciplinary proceedings against the professional in question. We offer defense services to professionals in need of help in defending themselves in such proceedings.

- Young Offenders

The Young Offenders Act ( YOA ) was an act of the Parliament of Canada, granted Royal Assent in 1984, that regulated the criminal prosecution of Canadian youths.[1] The act was repealed in 2003 with the passing of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The act established the national age of criminal responsibility at 12 years old, and said that youths can only be prosecuted if they break a law of the Criminal Code (previously, youths could be prosecuted or punished solely on the grounds that it was in the youth's "best interests").

Lawyers

	Salvatore Caramanna, B.Sc., LL.B. Attorney Criminal Defense, Criminal Law, Murder		Matthew A. Friedberg, B.A., LL.B. Attorney Criminal Law, Drug Crime
	Gina Nardella Lawyer Arson, Assault, Battery, Bribery, Burglary