Tobias Okada-Phillips
Associate
Tobias Okada-Phillips is a criminal defence lawyer and associate with Edward Royle & Partners LLP. He received his law degree from Queen’s University and his Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto.
Tobias prides himself on achieving the best possible result for every client. Tobias recently convinced a Superior Court judge to rule the five- year minimum sentence for human trafficking underage complainants unconstitutional. Tobias’ novel arguments also resulted in a reported decision where the judge refused to impose the controversial mandatory victim surcharge. Tobias successfully argued that this mandatory fine violated his client’s equality rights and ultimately helped change the law in this area. Another one of Tobias’ cases achieved national media attention when his client was subject to a “fake fentanyl bust.”
At trial and on appeal, Tobias has achieved the following notable results:
- Acquittal of a home invasion style robbery through a successful Charter application for a breach of his client’s right to a fair trial;
- Acquittal of serious domestic violence allegations after the Crown tendered persuasive photographic evidence;
- Acquittal of robbery allegations after successful exclusion of a key witness statement;
- Withdrawal of sexual assault allegations after a thorough cross-examination of the complainant;
- Withdrawal of serious sexual offences after a probing cross-examination uncovered troubling Charter non-compliance;
- A successful conviction appeal where the judge overturned the conviction due to an unreasonable verdict; and
- A successful sentence appeal where the judge overturned the lower court’s sentence.
