Ontario Dangerous Offender Defence Lawyers
People accused of sexual assault, attempted murder, murder and the most violent offences run the risk of being labelled a dangerous offender at the sentencing hearing. At the criminal defence law firm of Hicks Adams, our lawyers have more than a century of combined experience. We use that experience to defend against serious violent offences and sexual offences in order to avoid the heightened penalties that come along with a dangerous offender application.
Heightened Penalties for Dangerous Offenders
If a person is found guilty, the crown may make an application for dangerous offender status instead of the regular sentence the law has dictated for the offence. Essentially, this is a method of indefinitely incarcerating a person who is believed to have violent tendencies that cannot be controlled. The dangerous offender will be imprisoned until a tribunal finds that it is safe and advisable for the person to be released, which may very well be never.
Defence Against Dangerous Offender Applications
The possibility of life-long incarceration means that a dangerous offender application should be aggressively opposed. We will fight to avoid conviction. If convicted, we will turn to our network of experts, which includes experienced and well-respected forensic psychiatrists. Our goal is to avoid the dangerous offender designation at sentencing in favour of long-term offender designation or some other lesser penalty.
We have a tremendous amount of experience and success in this difficult area, having represented dozens of persons at trial and on appeal who faced a dangerous offender designation on sentence. You can benefit from the experience, knowledge and resources we offer.
Contact Us for a Free Criminal Defence Consultation
Our experienced Toronto dangerous offender application defence lawyers are ready to defend your rights. Call us on 877-660-7072 or send us an e-mail for a free consultation.
