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30
Jan
2025

How a Criminal Record Can Affect an Assault Defence Strategy?

January 30th, 2025
How a Criminal Record Can Affect an Assault Defence Strategy?

How a criminal record can or may affect an assault defence strategy in another criminal case is a complicated question, and one that does not have a clear or black and white answer.

We have already discussed in past blogs how a criminal record can affect your life in many subtle and unpleasant ways, and sometimes ways that you may not have thought of. The criminal record can affect where you can live, where you can travel, what your job prospects are, your prospects for dating or friends. A criminal record also hurts your family and wreaks havoc on relationships. That is a harsh truth, but true, nonetheless.

A previous criminal record can affect a future defence strategy for assault or another crime in different ways, and none of them are good. Once the Crown knows you have a criminal record, they will be biased against you, whether they admit it or recognize it or not. While, in theory, each case should stand alone—with a few exceptions—lawyers and judges are still human. They will retain this information in the backs of their minds, and even though we are, in theory, innocent until proven guilty, the Crown will be thinking, “this person was guilty before so it would not be a stretch to be guilty again.”

There is a good possibility the charges laid against you will be stiffer than they would have been without that previous conviction. Your probability of being released on bail decreases. After all, how safe is the community when this offender has offended for the second time. Is this a pattern? Your penalty if found guilty could be higher. In fact, even if your offence was small, you could wind up with a stiff penalty because of the previous conviction.

Also, jurors and judges will be less sympathetic to factors that might mitigate the accused’s position, when the penalty phase comes around.

The lesson here is that having a criminal record hurts you if you continue to engage in criminal acts. Each time you are found guilty of a crime, that background hurts you more and more in the future, inside and outside of court. You defence lawyer will be well acquainted with the problems noted above and will do his or her best for you, but lawyers are not magicians. They do the best they can with what they have to work with.

Try your best to avoid getting starting down the road of criminality. It is difficult to turn off that road and find a better path.

 

Gagan Nahal is a criminal defence lawyer based in Surrey, British Columbia, although he has represented clients across Canada. He works vigorously and tirelessly defending his clients. 

If you have any questions about this article or you would like to talk to Mr. Nahal, please call him directly at (604) 527-4769.