A woman was standing in line at her bank when her phone app that was connected to a camera inside of her home alerted her to the presence of an intruder. The woman quickly used her phone to see what was going on and saw her elderly neighbor snooping around her bedroom. The woman called the police and the neighbor was arrested for break and enter. After he was arrested he confessed to the police. The neighbor hired Mr. van der Walle to defend him. After reviewing the case Mr. van der Walle saw an opening in that the Crown would have difficulty proving one element of the alleged crime and advised the client to plead not guilty and put the file down for trial in Supreme Court. As the trial approached the Crown discussed the case with Mr. van der Walle and eventually ended up agreeing with the defence that although the client had seriously violated the woman’s privacy rights by illegally entering into the home, it would be difficult to prove he had the necessary intent to be guilty of break and enter under the Criminal Code. As a result a deal was reached where the client had his criminal charge dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to a ticketable offence under the provincial Trespassing Act. For punishment the client was required to pay a small fine. Not guilty of the criminal charge, no trial necessary.
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