If you are facing criminal charges, you might already have come in contact with the prosecutor, or perhaps one of the prosecutor’s assistants. Often, the prosecutor will take a sympathetic approach, claiming that this is all just an unfortunate situation and if we work together we can work it all out.

As often as not, this approach will seem very friendly and result in you being offered the opportunity to plead guilty, perhaps to charges somewhat less serious than those initially levied against you. Nonetheless, a guilty plea is still just that.

Don’t buy into it. No matter how friendly the prosecutor seems, or how eager he or she might appear to be to “work this out,” you must first and foremost always keep in mind that the prosecutor is not on your side. The prosecutor, also known as Crown Counsel, is absolutely, 100 percent, opposite you in a criminal case, and the stakes are your freedom.

Crown Counsel’s Job Is Not to Help You

Prosecutors in Canada have a duty to be fair. One case from Supreme Court of Canada is well known and is often held up as a standard of prosecutorial conduct. This case states, “the purpose of a criminal prosecution is not to obtain a conviction, it is to lay before a jury what the Crown considers to be credible evidence relevant to what is alleged to be a crime.” While that sounds noble, what it means is that if Crown Counsel is bringing charges against you, Crown Counsel most likely has credible evidence that you committed a crime. That determination is part of Crown Counsel’s job.

Above all, the prosecutor is not your lawyer. The prosecutor’s job is to prosecute criminal cases. If you are facing a prosecutor, nothing the prosecutor says or does is intended to get you out of trouble, no matter how it sounds. While standards for prosecutors’ conduct requires that they show “fairness, moderation, and dignity” in prosecuting a criminal case, those standards do not limit the prosecutor’s pursuit of a conviction when the prosecutor is convinced a crime has been committed. Rather, ethical standards for prosecutors include “vigour and thoroughness” as vital qualities for Crown counsel.

If you are facing criminal prosecution, don’t look to the prosecutor for advice or recommendations on how to avoid imprisonment. Get a lawyer who can defend you to the utmost degree.

If You Are Facing Criminal Charges in the Calgary Area, Contact the Lawyers of Bourdon Defence

If you are charged with criminal offences in Calgary or surrounding Alberta, you need a lawyer. The prosecutor is not your friend, and the prosecutor cannot help you in this situation. Work with a lawyer who will defend you to the fullest extent allowed under the law. The lawyers of Bourdon Defence are ready and able to do that. Call us today at (403) 474-4143 or your can contact us via our website.