The "Reel" Legal Question

Happy new year legal friends!

We are kicking off the new year a little early in the month and below is our featured clip.

WATCH the following clip and engage with the legal question below!

Keywords: Criminal Law, Out -of-Court Confession, Professional Conduct, Due Diligence, Victim, Voluntariness, Evidence, Charter Application, Miscarriage of Justice, Violation of Rights, Wrongful Confession, Civil Law, Voir Dire, Stay of Proceedings, Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms, False Confession Case, Legal Action Against Police, Legal Recourse for Police Misconduct

FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSIONALS

(If you are not a legal professional, you are welcome to take a look and analyze or chime in on the general question below): 

Scenario based on the clip: 

(Canadian context) - The charges:

The person being questioned is being charged with murder in the first degree.

The proceedings:

The only proceeding that has taken place was bail, which was denied due to the accused person’s negative conduct while in the courtroom towards the presiding judge. 

Your client profile:

A widowed, 36 year old caucasian male, average income and lives alone. He has a recently deceased 5 year old daughter and wife who were murdered about 2 years prior to the alleged murder. His educational background is mechanical engineering.

You have been retained under a limited scope retainer to assist in a plea to the charge after a “confession” was provided to the police detective. You have now become aware of the confession as you viewed it on videotape. The circumstances around obtaining the confession and conduct during the confession are now clear, so you proceed. 

Image - Moot Court Room - Faculty of Law at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom

The 'Reel' Legal Question(s): 

Based on how the confession was obtained, you believe that your client’s confession was wrongfully accepted due to the video clip provided.

You advise the Crown counsel that your client will no longer be entering into a guilty plea. 

You will now need to engage in a legal analysis and strategic action in the interest of your client. Keeping in mind the Canadian principles of fundamental justice - the common law voluntariness rule and confession rule, a 24(2) Charter application may apply. This will allow you to advocate for the confession to be ruled as involuntary and can be excluded under the Charter section. 

Your next steps may include and in no particular order: 

1. Evaluating the voluntariness of the confession. 

2. Gathering supporting evidence.

3. Preparing your Charter application. 

4. Assessing the overall evidence. 

5. Seeking a voir dire.

6. Speaking with your client and consulting with senior counsel.

Questions to Answer: 

1. Once you have identified your Charter application, what landmark case would you use to support this application? How would you use this case to support your argument for this client’s particular situation? 

TIP: Prepare a trial book and review the evidence and how you may approach the argument in a voir dire through the lens of a 24(2) application as an isolated legal issue. Also, you may add any subsequent rulings to support your legal argument.

2. Based on your client’s profile and should your application proceed, would an expert witness support the analysis of your client’s psychological state during the confession?

3. If the confession was obtained through egregious misconduct and you believe that proceeding with a trial would harm the integrity of the justice system, what step would you take under section 24(1)?

Image - David Wilson Library at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE TO THINK AHEAD - HERE IS A BONUS QUESTION:

(Q) If your client was convicted due to their guilty plea based on the confession and for reasons beyond your control, there was no video provided until AFTER your client was convicted. They have now spent 5 years in prison. Once you appeal the conviction and sentence and are successful, your client is now released.

With client instructions, would you advise your client to pursue a civil suit against the police ? If so, what would your legal theory be for your case? What type of damages would you be seeking?

Discussion: Exploration of the voluntariness rule in our Canadian legal system.. Give us your take!

For a general chat with the community: 

If this was a close friend or your family member, would you see this type of confession as a legitimate confession and believe they should plead guilty?

DISCLAIMER: This above context, profile and legal question(s) are based on the movie clip provided. We do not own the rights to this movie clip and the information provided is a fictitious case scenario for educational purposes ONLY. This following is NOT legal advice and does not provide an absolute legal roadmap on how to approach your individual cases. The procedures referenced may be fictitious and may not apply to your individual legal matter. Engagement in the above legal question(s) activity is voluntary and ONLY for educational purposes.

May justice guide your journey both on and off the record.

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BONUS:

I love movies! On the last Friday of the month, I will be sharing well known, favourite court/legal dilemma scenes and will pose a legal question to gain insight on what legal professionals have to say!

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Until next time - may justice guide your journey both on and off the record.

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