Toronto and Vaughan Criminal Lawyer

Daniel Brown Law Office

8800 Dufferin Street
Suite 301
Vaughan, Ontario L4K 0C5
Canada

(416) 297-7200

www.yourbestdefence.com

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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

I am Daniel Brown, a criminal lawyer in Toronto, Ontario. I represent those facing criminal charges including domestic assault, theft, fraud, sexual assault, bail hearings, mischief, utter threats, extradition and more.

My work has included representing clients at bail hearings and bail reviews, "judge alone" trials, jury trials and appeals. The range of criminal charges I defend include, but are not limited to, domestic assault, sexual assault, robbery, drug offences, weapons offences, firearms offences, arson, theft /shoplifting, fraud, break & enter, impaired driving, attempted murder, murder, securities offences, extradition hearings, tax evasion, regulatory offences, computer crimes, offences under the Environmental Protection Act or Occupational Health and Safety Act, professional disciplinary offences, embezzlement, corporate crimes, and conspiracy offences.

I have appeared as counsel on hundreds of trials ranging from large-scale frauds and drug trafficking to first degree murder and almost every charge in between.

Year this Office was Established: 2011

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Criminal Organization; Firearm or Gun Possession; Offenses Against the Administration of Justice; Constitutional Challenges; Regulatory Offenses; Harassment; Defending Young Offenders; Utter Threats and Threatening Bodily Harm; Victim Support and Assistance; Appeals of Conviction and Sentence; Impaired Driving; Driving Over 80; Bail Hearings and Bail Detention Reviews; Fail to Appear; Mischief.

Practice Areas Description

At the law firm of Daniel Brown, we provide legal service on the following areas of criminal law:

- Assault

An assault occurs when a person directly or indirectly applies force intentionally to another person, or who attempts or threatens to do so without consent. This is one of the most common offences that Daniel Brown handles as a criminal lawyer in Toronto. There are many defenses available to a person that is alleged to have committed an assault. Accidental contact, consent where there is no bodily harm, mistaken belief in consent where there is no bodily harm, and self-defense are the most common defenses to assault. Allegations of assault are very fact specific. An experienced lawyer like Daniel Brown is required to assess the allegation against you to determine which defenses may be available to you.

- Domestic Violence/Assault

The Courts in Ontario consider any kind of violent assault or threatening behavior that occurs between members of the same family or between romantic partners to be domestic violence. Domestic assault charges are charged exactly the same as assault, assault bodily harm, aggravated assault or other offences such as criminal harassment or threatening death or bodily harm. Domestic violence or Toronto domestic assault allegations require a special set of skills and tools to be used by the criminal lawyer because of the family dynamics and emotions that are involved in such cases. Unfortunately, these allegations can separate families and tear them apart. Often, people with no criminal record are held for bail hearings when facing Toronto domestic assault allegations.

- Criminal Threatening

It is an offence to knowingly utter, convey or cause a person to receive a threat: to cause death or bodily harm to any person; to burn, destroy or damage real or personal property; or to kill, poison or injure an animal or bird that is the property of any person. In an uttering threats case the prosecution will have to prove that: the accused uttered or conveyed a threat to another person to cause death or bodily harm to any person. To be criminally liable for “uttering a threat” it is not necessary for the intended victim to be aware of the threat. Telling someone that you intend to kill their friend could be the basis for an uttering threat charge.

- Murder & Manslaughter

Culpable homicide is either murder or manslaughter. Culpable basically means blameworthy or criminal conduct. A person that intentionally causes the death of another human , or intentionally causes bodily harm likely to cause death can be found guilty of murder unless they have a defense. Culpable homicide that is not murder is manslaughter. If a judge or jury finds that the homicide is culpable, it must then decide what the intent of the accused was. If the accused did not intend to commit murder then they may be found guilty of manslaughter. Daniel Brown has obtained acquittals in both murders and attempted murders. An experienced lawyer is definitely required to defend allegations involving culpable homicide.

- Criminal Organization

Criminal organization charges are being more and more common in Ontario. The Greater Toronto Area has in the past couple of years seen a real increase in these types of prosecutions. Essentially, Criminal Organization charges are aimed at what the police or prosecutors perceive as "gangs". There are three criminal organization offences being: Participation; Commission of an offence; and Instructing commission of an offence. Criminal lawyer Daniel Brown has successfully defended and appeared on several criminal organization prosecutions. One of the difficulties in defending criminal organization charges is that they are usually lengthy and unwieldy prosecutions involving multiple co-accused's. It is absolutely imperative to get the client released on bail in these types of prosecutions because some cases take several years to complete.

- Firearm or Gun Possession

Criminal lawyers in the Greater Toronto Area probably defend more unauthorized possession of prohibited and/or restricted firearm allegations than anywhere else in Canada. The metropolitan nature of the city and the drug trade appear to be factors that affect the prevalence of unregistered and unauthorized firearms or guns. The government has recently cracked down on guns and gun crime. Illegally possessing a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm now carries a three year minimum sentence. That means a sixty-five year old man that has been a lawful member of society his whole life with no criminal record will go to prison for three years should he be found guilty of illegally possessing a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm.

- Robbery

Robbery is a very serious criminal charge that requires an experienced Toronto criminal lawyer to determine the best defense. The definition of robbery in the Criminal Code of Canada is very common sense. The simplest way to think of robbery is that it is a theft combined with threats of violence or violence. If the robbery involves threats, the threats can also be made in relation to property. The most common defense to an allegation of robbery involves attacking the prosecution's ability to identify the accused. There are certain police procedures that ought to be followed to ensure a proper identification of a suspect. Sometimes, improper procedures can taint the witness identification leading to improper or wrongful convictions. An experienced Toronto criminal lawyer such as Daniel Brown will be able to identify failures in police procedure to attack the validity of identifications that have not been properly obtained.

- Drug Offences

Drug charges range in seriousness from simple drug possession to drug trafficking, drug production or drug importing. Drug trafficking, production and importing are viewed as the most serious offences and attract the heaviest sentences upon conviction. The type of substance involved will also have an impact on how serious the consequences or sentences are if the accused is convicted. Generally, in Canada, the heaviest sentences are given to offences involving heroin and cocaine (especially crack cocaine). These serious offences are contained in Schedule 1 of the CDSA. Don’t be deceived into believing that a marijuana (marihuana) drug charge is not serious. Even a marijuana conviction for possession can involve long term consequences and impediments to doing regular things like traveling to the United States.

- Sexual Assault

There is no Criminal Code definition of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is a term that therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other health professionals use to describe unwanted sexual contact. There are sexual offences such as sexual interference and sexual exploitation that deal with the offences involving sexual acts performed with young people or children by an adult. Daniel Brown is a Sexual Assault Lawyer in Toronto who regularly defends Toronto sexual assault allegations. All sexual offences in Canada are considered serious crimes.

- Child Pornography

The Criminal Code of Canada defines child pornography as: A photographic, film, video or other visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means, that shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years. Sometimes written material, visual representation or audio recordings can also be classified as child pornography depending on their content. Allegations of Toronto child pornography will be defended by Daniel Brown. He will do his best to handle the matter discreetly when acting as a child pornography lawyer in Toronto.

- Prostitution

In large cities like Toronto, there are often undercover police sting operations set up to catch people communicating for the purpose of prostitution on the streets. These police initiatives are setup to deter the public from participating in these prostitution related behaviors on the public streets. This type of charge can be extremely embarrassing for an accused person and have far-reaching implications on their personal life should family or friends find out about the charges. Toronto criminal lawyer Daniel Brown always handles these matters as discreetly as possible. He makes sure his clients charged with prostitution offences only attend court personally if it is absolutely necessary. In many cases Mr. Brown can make all the necessary court appearances on behalf of his clients charged with communicating for the purpose of prostitution.

- Theft

Theft is in its most basic terms the taking of an item that belongs to another person without that person’s permission. The most common Theft Under allegations that a criminal lawyer in Toronto deals with are basic shoplifting allegations. Shoplifting is not a defined term in the Criminal Code but rather a layman’s term for the stealing or taking of items from a retail store without paying for them. Toronto criminal lawyer, Daniel Brown, has defended many cases involving allegations of Theft Over. Theft Over allegations can involve very complex schemes with an international component or very simple allegations of common auto theft.

- Drinking & Driving

It is important to immediately obtain the advice of a lawyer should you be charged with any criminal driving offence such as: Impaired driving by alcohol or drug; Driving Over 80; Driving offences causing death or bodily harm. There are severe consequences for those convicted of impaired driving/care and control or over 80 driving/care and control in Ontario. The least of most people’s worries is the minimum fine of $1000 and conviction. Trials involving allegations of over 80 or impaired driving can be highly technical and an accused is best served with an experienced trial lawyer. Drinking and driving law is constantly changing and evolving, defending these cases requires a knowledgeable and experienced trial lawyer that stays current with the changes in the law.

- Bail Hearings

If there is a warrant, arrest warrant or bench warrant outstanding for you then you should talk to a bail hearing lawyer in Toronto to help assist you in securing your release. Bench warrants are commonly issued by judges when an accused fails to appear in court. Arrest warrants are issued by the police to find suspects that the police believe they have grounds to charge. Every accused that is not released from the scene where the police allege a crime has taken place or is not later released from the police station will require a bail hearing. Being in Court for a bail hearing is an intimidating process. An experienced criminal lawyer that regularly conducts bail hearings in Toronto, such as Daniel Brown, will navigate the bail hearing system to ensure that whenever possible your loved one is released on bail.

- Bail Reviews

If an accused has been detained in custody by a Justice or Judge, the accused may be in a position to conduct a bail review to secure a release from custody. Sometimes, a Justice or Judge may impose conditions that are unreasonable and this may also cause an accused to want to review their bail. The Toronto criminal lawyer will have to demonstrate that there has been a material change in circumstances or that the justice that detained or made the order committed a jurisdictional error. These are legal terms that an experienced criminal lawyer will explain to you should you require them to perform a bail review for a friend, family member or yourself.

- Youth Criminal Justice Act

A person that is under the age of eighteen at the time of their purported crime will be governed by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. One of the main differences between defending young individuals in Youth Court and adults in adult criminal court is that proceedings in youth court are not dictated by the Criminal Code. They are instead governed by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The Youth Criminal Justice Act is not a diversified collection of offences, nor is it a myriad of discreet procedural rules. The public perception is that youths are given an easier time when being punished. The law in Canada does lean towards finding alternatives to incarceration for young people, however, for serious offences, youths may in certain circumstances attract adult sentences.