Bail Hearing (Model Examination)

From Criminal Law Notebook

Introduction

See also: Bail Checklist

Be aware of whether there are any reverse onuses under s. 515(6)(a)to(d).

Form of Hearing

  • Crown states its position on bail, including
    • the grounds upon which detention is being sought, if applicable
    • whether bail is being revoked on other charges
    • whether the Crown is relying upon any reverse onuses under s.515(6)
  • make any requests for publication bans

Officer

<the summary of the offence will be read into the record or the investigating officer will testify to the circumstances of the offence>

Review of Investigation/Allegations
Review of Pending Investigative Steps
Review Ability to Supervise Accused in Community
  • Tell me about what supervision the police can perform to verify accused persons are abiding by their conditions?
  • What can be done to monitor the accused's location in the community?
  • What can be done to monitor internet or mobile phone use?
Consider any Charter Issues
Consider Weaknesses of Case

Surety

Core Biographical Info
  • Your name? (spell last name)
  • Your age? Your date of birth?
  • Where were you born? If not in Canada, are you a Citizen?
Residence
  • Where do you live? What is your address?
  • How long have you lived there?
  • Do you rent or own?
  • What are your prior locations (address, location, duration)?
Professional Circumstances
  • What is your level of education? When was that obtained?
  • What is your current employment? What is your position?
  • What general kind of hours does this work entail? What is your work schedule? How long have you worked there?
Family Circumstances
  • What is your marital status? If married, how long have you been married? If common law, how long have you cohabitated?
  • Who is your partner? What is their profession?
  • Do you have any children? What are their ages? What do they do? Are they in your care?
Criminal Record
  • Do you have a criminal record?
  • Do you have any outstanding charges?
  • Are you a surety for anyone else at the moment?
Pledgable Assets
  • Do you own any residential or commercial property? How much equity is there?
  • Do you own or rent a vehicle? How much equity is in the vehicle?
  • How many bank accounts do you have? What is the balance?
  • Are there any other assets you have access to? What is the total value?
  • Is any of this property or assets pledged to a court or someone else?
  • Are you willing to pledge any amount of these assets to the Court?
  • Are you aware that the property may be forfeited to the Court if there is a breach of release conditions?
  • Are you aware that conditions may take form of reporting requirements, limitations on contact, possession, and movement?
Ability to Supervise
  • As a surety are you aware of your duties as follows:L
    • track the accused's court dates and accompany him to them?
    • ensure that the accused is following his conditions at all times?
    • Contact the police, should they fail to follow them?
  • If the accused is released, is the accused able to stay at your residence?
  • Are the other residents at your place willing to have the accused stay at your place?
  • How often are you free to monitor the accused? How would you monitor him while you are at owrk or otherwise away?
  • Where in your house would the accused reside?
  • Are you able to monitor him to ensure that he does not breach any of his conditions, including:
    • Stay in residence under house arrest/curfew?
    • Not to possess or consume weapons, alcohol, drugs or electronic devices?
  • Are you able to attend court with him? What about escorting him to other things?
  • Are you able to abide by these requirements knowing that trial could be 1 or more years away?
  • Should you need to attend to unplanned court appearances or similar matters while you are at work, are you able to accommodate this?
  • Should you have reason to believe that he breached his conditions are you prepared to call the police?
Knowledge or familiarity of the accused
  • surety's connection to the accused (family, work, acquaintance)
  • how often are you in contact with the accused? In person? How far away do you live?
  • Are you familiar with personal circumstances of accused including
    • drug or alcohol use by accused
    • access to weapons by accused
    • relationship between accused and complainant
  • Do you have a good relationship with the accused? Doe she listen to you and follow your advice?
Aware of seriousness of circumstances
  • outstanding charges
  • significant jail consequences if convicted of charge
  • accused's prior record / aware of risk of future charges
Prior experience as a surety
  • Have you any experience being a surety (generally)?
  • Did the accused comply with those conditions? What were they?
  • Were there any problems that arose while being a surety?

Accused

Core Biographical Info
  • Your name? (spell last name)
  • Your age? Your date of birth?
  • Where were you born? If not in Canada, are you a Citizen?
Residence
  • Where do you live? What is your address?
  • How long have you lived there?
  • Do you rent or own?
  • What are your prior locations (address, location, duration)?
Professional Circumstances
  • What is your level of education? When was that obtained?
  • What is your current employment? What is your position?
  • What general kind of hours does this work entail? What is your work schedule? How long have you worked there?
Family Circumstances
  • What is your marital status? If married, how long have you been married? If common law, how long have you cohabitated?
  • Who is your partner? What is their profession?
  • Do you have any children? What are their ages? What do they do? Are they in your care?
Health
  • Do you have any mental or physical ailments that have been diagnosed by a medical professional?
Criminal Record
  • Are there any errors in the submitted criminal record?
  • Are there any explanations (or mitigating facts) for specific convictions?
  • Do you have any other outstanding charges?
Pledgable Assets
  • Do you own any residential or commercial property? How much equity is there?
  • Do you ownsor rent a vehicle? How much equity is in the vehicle?
  • How many bank accounts do you have? What is the balance?
  • Are there any other assets you have access to? What is the total value?
  • Are you willing to pledge any amount of these assets to the Court?
  • Are you aware that the property may be forfeited to the Court if there is a breach of release conditions?
  • Are you aware that conditions may take form of reporting requirements, limitations on contact, possession, and movement?
Need for Release
  • What are the reasons you need to be released?
Knowledge of familiarity with the surety
  • relationship between accused and complainant
Connection with other jurisdictions
  • do you own any property or assets in another country?
  • do you have any family out of country? Tell me about them.
  • Are you willing to give up you passport to prevent you from leaving the country?