Appeals

About Us

• Over 125 years experience
• Certified Criminal Specialist
• Successfully defended countless cases, including homicide, sexual assault, fraud, all drug offences, driving offences, robbery
• Regularly appear throughout the Greater Toronto Area
• Dedicated appeal lawyers

Who is eligible for a criminal appeal?

You are eligible for an appeal if you have been convicted of a provincial or criminal offence. You can appeal the conviction or the sentence or both. The sentence you are seeking to appeal may include probation, jail, or ancillary orders – such as driving prohibitions, weapons prohibitions, or restitution.

If you have had a preliminary inquiry in the Ontario Court of Justice and have been committed to stand trial in the Superior Court of Justice, you can also apply to have the committal order overturned. This is called an application for certiorari.

How do you apply for a criminal appeal?

In order to initiate a criminal appeal, you must file a Notice of Appeal within 30 days of the sentence. If you were convicted of a summary conviction offence, your Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Superior Court of Justice. If you were convicted of an indictable offence, your Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Once your Notice of Appeal has been filed, you must order all transcripts and exhibits from the trial. To complete the appeal, you must file copies of all transcripts with the court, an appeal book containing the exhibits, a factum, and a book of authorities. Once all the materials are filed, you will receive a date to attend court to provide oral submissions on the appeal. The appellate court may render a decision right away, or may reserve the decision and release it at a subsequent date.

If you have exceeded the 30 day notice period, you may still initiate an appeal by filing an Application for Extension of Time to Appeal.

The same process applies for a certiorari application, which is initiated by filing a Notice of Application in the Superior Court of Justice.

How can we help?

As experienced appellate counsel, we will handle the appeal from beginning to end. By thoroughly reviewing the transcripts and exhibits filed at the trial level, as well as the judgment for conviction and sentence, we will be able to learn everything that happened at your trial or guilty plea. We will then conduct comprehensive legal research in order to identify any legal argument that can be advanced on the appeal. We will prepare the most persuasive written and oral arguments available, in order to give you your best chance of success.

What are my chances of success?

Every appeal turns on the facts of the case. The goal is always to overturn the conviction and secure an acquittal on the appeal or, alternatively, a retrial. On sentence appeals, the goal is to reduce the sentence as much as possible, or to remove or reduce ancillary orders.  Our experienced and fearless appellate counsel have successfully appealed many cases, including:

• R v LC: conviction for attempted murder overturned on appeal with a new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

• R v OT: conviction for possession for the purpose of trafficking overturned on appeal and acquittal entered.   

• R v MJ: conviction for sexual assault and sexual intereference overturned on appeal and new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

• R v VN: conviction for sexual assault overturned on appeal and acquittal entered. 

• R v TR: conviction for possession for the purpose of trafficking overturned on appeal with new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute.

• R v JS: conviction for sexual assault overturned on appeal with a new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute. 

• R v HC: conviction for firearms offense overturned on appeal with a new trial ordered. 

• R v KJ: conviction for failing to comply with probation overturned on appeal with new trial ordered. Crown declined to reprosecute

• R v SS: conviction following plea to sexual interference vacated and new trial ordered

• R v SE: sentence reduced by 84 months for various drug offences

• R v JD: sentence for weapons offences reduced by four years

• R v KA: sentence for firearm offences reduced by 17 months 

• R v GP: sentence for robbery reduced by six months 

• R v SJ: successfully challenged sentence appeal by Crown to increase sentence

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