SCC ruling a win for citizens’ privacy rights
Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia says Canadians should be relieved that the country’s highest court has affirmed citizens’ privacy rights by ruling that police need a warrant to get information from Internet service providers about their subscribers’ identities. “I think Canadians should be thrilled that the Supreme Court of Canada has come down and said […]
SCC ruling restores fairness, says Gadhia
Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia says the most recent Supreme Court of Canada decision on sentencing will help protect the rights of individuals who come before the justice system. The decision in R. v. Summers restores the amount of pre-trial credit that accused persons can receive for time spent in custody before they are convicted […]
Senior Toronto officer found guilty after G20 disciplinary hearing
TORONTO – The most senior police officer charged over mass arrests made during the Toronto’s G20 summit five years ago has been found guilty on three out of five offences at a disciplinary hearing. Retired Ontario judge John Hamilton, who had been presiding over the case, found Supt. David Fenton guilty of two counts of […]
Serious charges dropped against Toronto man
A Crown prosecutor has withdrawn a slew of charges, including human trafficking, sexual assault and forcible confinement, against a Toronto man accused of forcing a woman to work as a prostitute and living off her earnings, says Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia. Jordan Michael Lynch, Gadhia’s client, has pleaded guilty to assault and theft and […]
Special bail hearings keeping individuals jailed unnecessarily
By Peter Small, AdvocateDaily Contributor Ontario defendants are being held in custody for unreasonable periods because prosecutors subject many to “special bail” hearings, says Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia. “These special bails have really kind of circulated out of control,” says Gadhia, principal of Roots of Law Professional Corporation. Under a policy instituted three years […]
Toronto police wrong to turn off body cams while carding
Equipping Toronto police officers with body cameras but not requiring the devices to be turned on while carding individuals not under arrest or investigation would undermine the overall purpose of the pilot project, says Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia. “The rollout of the body cams was designed to ensure the safety of both the officers […]
Twitter in the courtroom? Not a priority
As mobile devices and social media sites such as Twitter find their way into courtrooms across Canada, allowing tweeting or texting in court could be cost prohibitive for the justice system and should not be a priority, says Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia. A recent decision in B.C. will allow lawyers and accredited members of […]
Two meeting rooms at new jail not enough
Limited space for face-to-face meetings between lawyers and their clients at the new Etobicoke superjail is concerning, and may lead to courtroom delays, Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia says in the Toronto Star. The new jail, set to replace the aging Don Jail, will take in 1,650 inmates by the end of the year, the […]
Two Toronto men convicted of murder after gang trial
Lavare Williams, 21, and Chael Mills, 23, have been convicted of murder in the death of a Toronto teenager after a three-month trial where Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia argued that a verdict must not be based on rap videos played in court. Read Toronto Star The trial in the death of seventeen-year-old Mitchell Celise […]
Warrantless disclosure troubling: Gadhia
Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia says it’s troubling that the personal telecom information of more than 800,000 Canadians has been given to government agencies, in many cases without a warrant. “The idea that personal conversations, text messages and content is being provided voluntarily by the telecom companies is worrisome,” she tells AdvocateDaily.com. “It’s one thing […]
Why some sexual assault allegations don’t result in conviction
The vast majority of sexual assaults that have been substantiated by police do not result in a criminal conviction or even make it to court, Statistics Canada said Thursday. New research from the agency surveyed the number of sexual assault allegations that police ruled as founded between 2009 and 2014, noting that this figure is […]
Withholding millions from crime prevention ‘telling, problematic’
Toronto criminal lawyer Roots Gadhia says news that the Harper government withheld millions of dollars destined for crime prevention — even when it highlighted those same programs as proof of its tough-on-crime stance — raises alarm bells and seems “typical of this administration’s tendency to make bold, audacious statements” designed to convey to the public […]
