Criminal Issues

A report on poverty in Canada which came out not too many years ago stated that, "The rich get richer; and the poor go to prison!" It's a very real fact of life that legal representation costs money! There are some dedicated and experienced lawyers who give their time to Legal Aid cases and legal clinics; and I've been thankful to meet many of these lawyers and to sometimes use their services. But if a person, like myself, is on a low income and is forced to depend on Legal Aid only, it's not always a happy story! [It used to be said that "He who represents himself (in court), has a fool for a lawyer!" But these days, people are sometimes forced to represent themselves; and it doesn't always turn out badly. I knew of people who had been successful--even in a bigger, civil case. Will write more below.] It's my opinion that I haven't been treated fairly in the criminal courts--even though it's not necessarily the fault of the courts. There are many factors which are always involved; and I've certainly been limited by a low income and the lack of an ability to pay for better legal representation. After my original criminal charge, which was indirectly connected to the housing tribunal, there was a secondary, "breach" charge for allegedly violating one of the conditions the police had given me before going to trial. The application of the conditions was a little blurred, considering I still had business with the housing tribunal, at that time; and I made a simple mistake, without meaning to cause any problems. Soon after the breach charge went to court, I decided to represent myself for that matter because the Legal Aid office had wanted to dip into an injury claim in which I wasn't expecting to win a lot.--They wanted me to agree to pay my lawyer in the future from potential compensation; and I wasn't willing to do that. [I had a lawyer for the injury matter and we later settled out of court, for an amount I had more or less expected.] In my opinion, I did a fairly good job of speaking for myself in court--and I'd received advice from Legal Aid lawyers and had also read about relevant parts of the law at the library. The experience helped me to understand the process and the issues better. Even though I lost that particular case, also, the sentence was mostly blended in with my first one. It was during the first trial that evidence got confused; and I wasn't able to sort it out and make a proper defence.--And I had a Legal Aid lawyer, for that case. Of course, the landlord/tenant matter was still in dispute, at the time, and it was held against me. The first criminal charges came up in 1999. A trial was held far away in a city where I had lived briefly; and it was harder to conduct court business over a distance. That matter was handled within a few months. The trial for the breach charge took about a year from the date of arrest to complete.--It was in a city closer to me, since I had been in the process of moving. In 2005, there was another arrest. I felt that the issues were quite different, and I'll explain more later, but the first charges had an impact.