Other Criminal Case Results
Re: Possession of Cocaine for the purpose of trafficking (Client 1855)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Michael D. Smith
Client charged with Possession of Cocaine for the purposes of Trafficking
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Accused client stopped by the Port Coquitlam RCMP for riding a bicycle without a helmet and on the wrong side of the road after 2:00 am. The police officer saw client was holding something clenched in his hand. Officer suspected drugs or a weapon and demanded that client open his hand for officer and public safety. Client opened his hand and dropped flaps of cocaine, also in possession of cash and more drugs.
HELD: EVIDENCE EXCLUDED, CLIENT NOT GUILTY
Vancouver Defence Lawyer Michael D. Smith applied to exclude the drug evidence on the basis that the client’s Charter Rights were violated. The trial Judge found that the demand to open the hand was a search and that there were insufficient grounds to believe that there was a real concern for safety.
Re: Assault (Client 417)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Accused client charged with assault of a parking lot attendant.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Accused client arrested following an altercation with a parking lot enforcement attendant. While the client was paying to park his vehicle, a parking lot enforcement attendant placed a violation ticket on his windshield. An altercation ensued and the client was alleged to have pushed, kicked and knocked down the attendant. Three Crown witnesses claimed to have seen the altercation.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
The evidence creates a reasonable doubt as to whether the accused committed the offence. The accused may be telling the truth, therefore he must be acquitted.
Re: Cultivating Marihuana & Possession of Marihuana for Trafficking (Client 511)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Accused charged with cultivating marijuana and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking following the bust of a grow op.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Accused client charged after Burnaby police execute a search warrant of 2 rented suites in a condominium, one directly above the other. A marijuana grow operation is found in the lower suite. The owners of the lower suite testify that the resident of the upper suite, the client, rented the lower suite and ultimately set up and ran the grow op. The upper suite is found to contain grow equipment, scales, “High Times” magazines, and grow charts. The accused did not testify.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
The evidence may lead to alternative inferences; therefore knowledge and control are not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. ACQUITTED ON ALL CHARGES
Re: Drive While Prohibited (Client 516)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Accused client charged with driving while prohibited due to a 24-hour driving prohibition.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Client prohibited from driving for 24 hours. Pulled over driving during the 24-hour period and charged with driving while prohibited.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
The prosecutor must call evidence to prove that the 24-hour prohibition was lawful. Absent of evidence proving that the 24-hour prohibition was lawful, Crown counsel has not proven that the client was prohibited when driving.
Re: Uttering Threats / Domestic Threatening (Client 497)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul Doroshenko
Accused charged with uttering a threat to his ex-wife.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
During the course of a telephone conversation with his former spouse concerning custody and access to the children, the husband was alleged to have threatened to kill his ex-wife. A trial was conducted. The prosecution presented the ex-wife and her new boyfriend as witnesses. The accused did not testify.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
Following cross-examination by Mr. Doroshenko, the evidence of the complainant cannot be relied on to found a criminal conviction. The complainant has lied in the past and her evidence is not reliable. It is possible that the accused committed the offence, and possible that his behaviour has been reprehensible as described by the complainant. Nevertheless, the case has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. ACQUITTAL
Re: Cultivating Marihuana & Possession of Marihuana for Trafficking (Client 640)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Accused charged with possession of marihuana for the purposes of trafficking following a bust of a house containing over 2100 plants and harvested marihuana.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Client arrested in an extravagant home in West Vancouver which contained the largest marihuana grow op ever busted on the North Shore. As the admitted caretaker of the grow op, the client pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Over 2100 plants were located, as well as 320 lbs. of harvested bud for a total value of between $1.4 and 1.8 million.
On sentencing the prosecutor sought a significant jail sentence served in a BC Corrections facility. Paul Doroshenko argued that a conditional sentence of house arrest was appropriate.
HELD: HOUSE ARREST
The accused would not pose a risk to the community by serving his sentence via house arrest.
"Mr. Doroshenko in eloquent submissions referred to quantum physics and recent works of fiction to punctuate an assertion that complex events may lead a person to find themselves in a situation they did not set out to get into. In hindsight, one can see how they got there, but it could not necessarily be predicted either that it would have happened or that it will dictate where they will go from here. The past is not necessarily a predictor of the future. Based upon the sequence of events experienced by [the accused] in recent years, Mr. Doroshenko submits that the offence is out of character."
"The suggestion by Mr. Doroshenko that [the accused] may have been set up in the residence to assume the risk and take the fall is not unreasonable in the circumstances as related in court."
A conditional sentence of house arrest for 18 months ordered despite the magnitude of the grow operation. Reported in the North Shore News, April 23, 2006.
Re: Spousal Assault (Client 840)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Client charged with assault of his estranged wife.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Vancouver Police responded to a 911 call made by the wife of the client. Both acknowledged that the marriage is over as the client was having an affair and intended to live with his girlfriend. The complainant alleged that the client put his knee on her back and choked her. She complained of ongoing medical and psychological problems as a result of the alleged assault.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
The credibility of the complainant is shattered following cross-examination by Mr. Doroshenko. The complainant is jealous and vindictive and her evidence cannot be trusted. She omits facts not favorable to her story and denies obvious truths. In light of the complainant’s demonstrably unreliable evidence and the accused’s denial, the accused is found not guilty.
Re: Domestic Assault (Client 963)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Client charged with assault of his former common law wife.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Surrey RCMP attend after the client’s former common law wife calls 911. She alleges that he held her by the collar while pointing a large chef’s knife at her face. The couple were in the course of a dispute concerning the custody of their child.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
Following cross examination of the complainant by Mr. Doroshenko, it is clear that the report is made shortly after the complainant was served family court papers seeking full custody of the child. The conduct of the complainant after the incident calls into question her behaviour as a whole. Given these weaknesses in the complaint’s evidence and the accused’s credible denial, the accused is found not guilty.
Re: Dangerous Driving / Evading the Police in Pursuit (client 672)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Client charged with dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle and evading the police by failing to stop for them while in pursuit.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
Vancouver police conduct a high speed pursuit of an SUV as it travels through East Vancouver and Gastown. Eventually the SUV collides with the iron posts in front of Vancouver’s famous Steam Clock before a police cruiser pins the vehicle against the clock. The SUV driver manages to pull away, fleeing down Cambie Street before police break off the pursuit. The client is later arrested and charged with two Criminal Code offences.
HELD: NO CRIMINAL RECORD
By protecting the Client early in the investigation, police fail to obtain sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the Client was at the wheel. During the course of the prosecution, the defence lawyer identifies evidence the police failed to obtain, and is later subsequently unavailable. PLEA TO NON-CRIMINAL CARELESS DRIVING
Re: Fraud (Client 502)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul Doroshenko
The client was arrested and charged for attempting to defraud with a
phony cheque.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
At a private cheque-cashing company the client, a former corrections
officer, attempted to negotiate a fake cheque while wearing the
corrections uniform. The teller identified the client who then was
arrested and charged with three Criminal Code offences.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
The evidence was insufficient to conclude that the accused knew the
cheque was not genuine. Mr. Doroshenko's cross-examination of the teller
demonstrated that his evidence was not reliable. The accused
testified that he was wearing the uniform to take photos of himself to
show his grandparents. The case has not been proven beyond a
reasonable doubt. ACQUITTAL
Re: Spousal Assault (Client 1)
Vancouver Criminal Lawyer: Paul C. Doroshenko
Following a 911 call, client was arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend.
CRIMINAL DEFENCE CASE FACTS:
In 1999 Richmond RCMP charged Mr. Doroshenko's first client with spousal assault after his girlfriend called 911 to report that he had punched and choked her.
HELD: NOT GUILTY
Following Mr. Doroshenko's cross-examination of the complainant, it is clear that the she was drunk when the fight took place. Indeed, under cross examination she eventually admitted to consuming 12 beers before the altercation.
The court is not in the business of adjudicating fights between drunk people. NOT GUILTY
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