When I became a lawyer I knew only police, I really didn’t know any lawyers. The cops I had grown up with were hard working honest men. I could never believe they would lie and try and put an innocent person in jail. As I appeared in court it became obvious that some police would lie to get someone convicted even though that person might be innocent. My early career was mostly fighting lying cops who were prepared to say anything to get a person convicted. I was successful and learned that a lying cop was more dangerous than any criminal. As a result of those early cases the drug squad was changed and the young police who got caught became strong good policemen. Today the lieing seems to be in the minor cases. The larger cases are very honestly investigated. The major dishonesty I see is in domestic cases where one person wants to use the criminal process for their financial advantage or for control of the other person.

There is a difference between getting away with a crime at trial because of a failure of witnesses or a breach of your charter rights and being found not guilty because you truly did not do the crime. Some people get away with crimes. Not often.

If you did the crime AND there is evidence to prove it, you have two choices. You can either take the risk of `getting off` by mistake of the crown or a charter breach or have a lawyer guide you to do everything to avoid a jail sentence. You probably understand that getting sentenced after a failed trial is a lot worse than saying you are sorry and admitting you were wrong. The presentation and preparation by the lawyer can make the difference between going to jail and staying free.