Lethbridge Criminal Defence Lawyers

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If you’re in trouble, we can help.

When facing criminal charges in Lethbridge, you need a legal team to review your case as soon as possible.

A criminal conviction can carry serious penalties including expensive fines and jail time. Not to mention the significant long-term financial, employment, and immigration implications.

Strategic criminal defence is a full service criminal defence firm. Our lawyers have more than 75 years of combined experience and have supported clients in over 10,000 cases.

We are proud to be recognized as one of Alberta’s top Google-rated criminal defence teams and are the 8 time recipients of Three Best Rated’s top criminal defence lawyers.

Three-Best-Rated

Our lawyers routinely work on high-profile cases which has earned us extensive media coverage on CTV, CBC, and Yahoo News, affirming our reputation as a trusted advocate for clients. Leveraging our extensive network of lawyers and decades of experience, we craft defence strategies to help those accused of a crime beat the charge.

Contact us if you have been charged with, or are under investigation for, any of the following offences.

Successful Cases

Case Number: 3581846

Cara Lebenzon’s client, an Indigenous male residing on the Kainai First Nation, was 21 years old when he was charged with sexual assault contrary to section 271 of the Criminal Code. The incident involved sexually touching his brother’s adult male friend while he was asleep at a house party. At the time he had no criminal record.

The client was forthcoming and remorseful and did not wish to take the matter to trial. The Crown Prosecutor initially offered 9-12 months of incarceration and a 10-year SOIRA order, an onerous obligation where our client would have to continuously report to law enforcement to provide personal information such as his education status, employment, address and other biographical data.

Upon entering a guilty plea, Cara ordered a Gladue Report and a psychiatric risk assessment from Forensic Assessment Outpatient Services (FAOS) in Calgary. The Gladue report revealed a history of the client’s family attending residential school which led to significant intergenerational trauma and a series of tragic events in the young person’s life. The psychiatrist opined in his risk assessment that the client had virtually no risk of re-offending and that the index offence reflected a lack of tools to cope with his sexual identity, rather than a predatory act.

Cara filed written submissions to the Court and Crown arguing for a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) and made further submissions that the client should be exempt from a SOIRA order.

Upon reading the submissions, the Crown agreed to a joint submission for a CSO but insisted on the 10-year SOIRA order.

At sentencing, having read the reports and written argument, the Justice was satisfied that no term of incarceration would be appropriate for this young man based on his remorse, self-reflection, mitigating circumstances and low risk of recidivism. The Justice ordered him exempt from a SOIRA order based on the grossly disproportionate impact it would have and because it would not assist police in further investigating or preventing crime.

Successful Result: Custody in the community, exempt from SOIRA order

Our client faced an Immediate Roadside Sanction (IRS: Fail) for allegedly operating a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol following a traffic collision. The peace officer issued a Notice of Administrative Penalty (NAP) and presented the client with a verbal explanation of a roadside appeal. However, no written advice about the voluntary nature of the appeal or its implications was provided before the appeal was declined.

The incident began when law enforcement stopped the client after observing them leaving the scene of a collision. The client was arrested, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a police vehicle. Despite the officer mentioning the appeal, the absence of written documentation and clear communication led the client to mistakenly believe that declining the appeal would result in worse consequences, such as criminal charges.

At the review hearing, we highlighted procedural deficiencies in the officer’s conduct. We argued that the failure to provide written advice regarding the voluntary nature of the appeal violated procedural safeguards under Section 88.11 of the Traffic Safety Act. Drawing on key precedents, including Lausen v. Alberta (Director of SafeRoads) and Lawrence v. Alberta (Director of SafeRoads), we demonstrated that these deficiencies deprived the client of their right to meaningful access to a roadside appeal.

The adjudicator agreed that the officer’s omissions rendered the process unfair. The NAP was canceled, and no suspension or further penalties were imposed.

Successful Result: IRS Fail Cancelled, No Suspension.

Case Number: 15230247

Our client was stopped for speeding. The police issued them a Notice of Administrative Penalty “NAP” for operating a motor vehicle while their blood alcohol concentration was equal to or over 80 mg% within 2 hours of operation and impaired operation.

Upon being retained, we reviewed the evidence provided by the police officer as well as the physical paperwork provided to our client. We presented our client’s side of the story for his erratic driving which was due to a mechanical failure in his car. Further, we argued no written notice of the roadside appeal was provided to him. Although, the officer did make some verbal assertions, however, those alone were not sufficient to meet the legislative onus. Our client provided honest and cogent evidence and asserted that the NAP was given to him at the conclusion of the investigation. Our client was able to provide a lot of details that were missing from the primary investigating officer’s narrative. Due to these details, the Adjudicator decided to believe our client. The adjudicator decided in our client’s favour and their penalty was cancelled.

Successful Result: IRS FAIL Cancelled, No Suspension.

Case Number: 55422346

Our client was accused of criminal harassment following a breakup with his girlfriend of nearly four years. Initially, the police contacted our client to issue a warning, instructing him not to contact his ex-girlfriend. However, despite this warning, our client left a voicemail for his ex-girlfriend, leading to criminal harassment charges being filed against him.

Upon being retained, we promptly obtained the disclosure and conducted a comprehensive review of the evidence. This allowed us to develop a strategic approach aimed at resolving our client’s case without a criminal record. Our strategy focused on emphasizing several key points to the Crown prosecutor. Firstly, we highlighted that our client had no prior criminal record, emphasizing his positive contributions to society through his educational pursuits and involvement in extracurricular activities. Additionally, we presented evidence showcasing our client’s efforts to disengage from the complainant since the date of the offense.

As a result of our discussions and presentation of these factors, we were able to resolve our client’s matter through a peace bond enabling our client to avoid a criminal record and move forward with his life.

Successful Result: Peace Bond; Charges Withdrawn; No Criminal Record

Case Number: 15130149

Our client was charged with two counts of assault after an altercation with her girlfriend. The two had a verbal disagreement and it was alleged that our client punched her girlfriend on her arm while she was driving.

Upon being retained, we immediately ordered and reviewed our client’s disclosure. We identified multiple weaknesses in the case against our client. We negotiated with the Crown Prosecutor and the Crown offered a Peace Bond. We advised our client to go to trial instead. On the day of the trial, our client’s charges were stayed.

Successful Result: Charges Stayed, No Criminal Record

Case Number: 75780002

During a significant mental health episode, our client delivered a letter to her former employer indicating that several of her former coworkers would die. The recipient contacted police and when officers arrived at our client’s residence, she had trouble understanding the situation and was taken to the hospital for a mental evaluation. She was later charged with uttering threats.

Upon being retained, we ordered disclosure and took a statement from our client. We entered discussions with the Crown Prosecutor who agreed that a criminal charge was inappropriate in the circumstances. We referred our client to counselling and the charge was withdrawn.

Successful Result: Charge Withdrawn; No Criminal Record

Case Number: 75700182

Our client was charged with violently confining a woman in her apartment and sexually assaulting her.

Elena Ryland and her second chair, Laura Bobyn, provided a vigorous defence of the client in a weeklong jury trial in Lethbridge, Alberta. In preparation for trial, they identified numerous inconsistencies between the complainant’s multiple statements, as well as inconsistencies between the medical records and the complainant’s description of the assault. During trial, these inconsistencies were exposed through thorough cross-examination of the complainant. Counsel also utilized the evidence of the Crown prosecutor’s other witnesses to expose additional frailties in the Crown prosecutor’s case. Our client testified that the sexual contact between him and the complainant was consensual, and there was no violence or confinement of the complainant. All 12 jury members returned a quick verdict of not guilty on both counts. As a result, our client was acquitted on both charges.

Successful result: Acquitted at trial

Our Lethbridge Lawyer Cara Lebenzon

I am an energetic and driven defence lawyer with a passion for criminal law, social justice and advocacy.

Being criminally charged is one of the worst crises someone can experience, and accused persons may feel helpless and alone in trying to navigate the complexities of the Criminal Justice System. Because of this, I assist all of my clients with a compassion-forward approach, while fiercely protecting their rights and interests against the power of the state.

My diverse educational and professional background has provided me the opportunity to work with individuals from all over the world, and has taught me the value of listening to and learning from people. I’ve taken this skillset into client advocacy, and I’m thrilled to continue providing creative solutions for clients with the exceptional team of lawyers at Strategic Criminal Defence. I look forward to learning from my new colleagues and carrying the firm’s core values down to our new Southern Alberta satellite office here in Lethbridge.

Conveniently Located in Downtown Lethbridge

You can visit our office in the heart of Lethbridge at 202, 519 7th St S, Lethbridge, Alberta.

Get A Free Consultation

For those clients who can’t meet us in person, we offer a free initial consultation. We can review the circumstances of your case, the process, the fee structure and what we can do to help remotely. Moreover, because we have a whole team of lawyers, we can offer a broad range of fees and flexible payment plans to meet virtually any budget.

Client Reviews

Fantastic defence team! Mateya Selders was puntual at every instance. She skillfully guided me through my case from its dreadful start to successful finish. Combined with her legal know-how, experienced team, and exceptional service; she has made an otherwise tragic turn of events into a memorable hinderence.

5 stars can’t even come close to convey my gratitude. Thank you Mateya and the Strategic Criminal Defence team!

G.C.

I wanted to thank Michael and his team for being outstanding and providing the best customer service. Thank you for winning my case. I really appreciate it. We all make mistakes and learn from them. Thank you again Michael. Highly recommended! Best lawyer in Alberta and Calgary!!

E.G.

I can’t thank enough to Joseph Beller. I got into a funny situation charged by CPS. This is a horrible place to be in, anyone who needs help should reach out ASAP.

He was very professional, calm, made the case go very smooth, good communication, answered my questions. Reliable! He cares about his clients, I trusted him 100%.

Charges have been withdrawn within a few months. 100% recommend him and his team to anyone in need! I wish more lawyers would be like him!

C.R.

Had my first criminal offence and unfortunately ended up with assault charges after drinking too much. Greg took the time to review the evidence and noted that there was actually no assault on one of the allegations! He was so patient with me and dealt with my fear and anxiety amazingly, answering my million questions all hours of the day. It took forever, due to delay from prosecution, but I ended up with a resolution of a peace bond that was acceptable while also allowing me to deal with the consequences of my actions. I hope to never be in a position to see Greg again, however, I highly recommend him and his team for these tough situations!

M.E.
I recently found myself assisting my elderly father with an urgent legal situation while from out of province. Attorney Greg Janzen went above and beyond from A-Z. He walked us through every step seamlessly. Resulting in a better than expected outcome. You can count on Greg Janzen!

R.E.
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