R. v. G.A. [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary, November 2018]

G.A. was charged under s. 268 of the Criminal Code with aggravated assault (i.e. one step below manslaughter) following a “brawl” outside of a local bar. The police alleged that G.A. had kicked the complainant in the head and permanently paralyzed him from the neck down. There were multiple witnesses, and the kick and subsequent paralysis was captured on CCTV video. If convicted G.A. faced significant jail time. The matter was scheduled for a preliminary inquiry. In advance of the preliminary inquiry Ms. Fagan and the Crown prosecutor spoke. Ms. Fagan argued that the Crown had no reasonable likelihood of conviction because they would not be able to prove the identity of her client as the person who kicked and paralyzed the complainant. The Crown, ostensibly, agreed.

BOTTOM LINE: A stay of proceedings was entered against G.A. (i.e. the prosecution against Ms. Fagan’s client was ended) without him having to step foot in a courtroom.