R v. AAR: [Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, Red Deer – June, 2025]

SUMMARY: On September 3, 2019, RCMP responded to a single vehicle accident which resulted in serious injuries to one of the passengers. As a consequence, AAR was charged with the following offence:

1. hit and run involving bodily harm contrary to Section 320.16(2) of the Criminal Code
2. dangerous driving causing bodily harm contrary to Section 320.13(2) of the Criminal Code
3. possession of a prohibited weapon in a motor vehicle contrary to Section 94(1) of the Criminal Code.

Patrick Fagan was not initially retained by AAR in relation to this matter; in fact, AAR went through at least 2 other lawyers and had a preliminary inquiry before ever reaching out to Patrick Fagan. AAR had been led to believe that there was no chance of success at trial and that the best route was to take a deal and plead guilty.

Despite the dismal odds of success, Patrick Fagan confirmed pleas of not guilty to all charges and scheduled the matter for trial. At the conclusion of a hard-fought one-week trial AAR (without ever having to testify) was found not guilty on all charges.