What If the Police Do Not Release Me After Arrest in Calgary?
TL;DR: If Calgary police refuse to release you directly from the station after arrest, you will be brought before a Justice of the Peace within 24 hours. The Crown may consent to your release if a satisfactory bail plan is put together. However, if you rush unprepared into a contested bail hearing you may be ordered to remain in custody for 90 days or more.
What Happens If Calgary Police Do Not Release You After Arrest?
If the police do not release you from the station, section 503 of the Criminal Code requires the state to bring you before a Justice of the Peace within 24 hours of your arrest to address your bail status. That hearing usually happens while you are still at the police station, often over the phone, with a Justice of the Peace and a Crown lawyer.
You may still be released, either with the Crown's consent or after a contested bail hearing. The key decision is when and where to argue your bail, because proceeding unprepared can lead to a detention order and a lengthy remand period.
What Happens When Police Will Not Release You from the Station
When Calgary police do not release you shortly after arrest and questioning, this often means the state has concerns about your release back into the community. This is not the end of the world. You may still ultimately be released from custody, either with the Crown's consent or through a contested bail hearing. Either way, a hearing will occur before a Judge or a Justice of the Peace.
Under section 503 of the Criminal Code, the state is legally required to bring you before a Justice of the Peace within 24 hours of your arrest to address your bail status. A 503 hearing happens while you are still at the police station, typically over the phone, with a Justice of the Peace and a Crown lawyer. You can rely on duty counsel to assist you at this 503 hearing, which is free of charge. Alternatively, you can hire a lawyer before your 503 hearing, who could vigorously negotiate a release with the Crown in advance or potentially argue for your release. Sometimes a private lawyer can secure your release from police custody that same night. It all depends on the circumstances.
There are times when the Crown opposes your release no matter what release plan is presented. This is not the end of the world, and you could still argue for your release. However, your decisions about when and where to argue your bail status have major repercussions.
If you proceed with a contested 503 hearing before you or your lawyer are fully prepared, you may be ordered detained by the presiding Justice of the Peace. Often it is not possible to appeal this detention decision, and a mandatory review of your detention does not occur in most cases for 90 days. As such, if the Crown opposes your release, it often makes sense to consent to remain in custody for a few days or weeks.
At the 503 hearing, duty counsel or your lawyer will advise that you consent to remain in custody and preserve your right to a bail hearing at a later date. You will then be transferred to a remand facility where you will remain until you and your lawyer are prepared to argue your bail before a Justice of a court of law.
This strategic delay gives you and your lawyer time to prepare a robust bail plan, meticulously review the disclosure, and potentially arrange for a surety or proper living arrangements. The plan is then presented before a judge in court, with more time allocated to hear the nuances of your plan and the Crown's case. It allows for a more in-depth analysis and a more wholesome hearing of your bail application. You have the benefit of a lawyer who is fully prepared, and a bail plan that is complete and robust. Obviously, the trade-off is remaining in custody for longer than anyone would like.
The decision as to whether to proceed with a contested bail application at the 503 hearing stage is fact specific, and there is no quick or easy answer. We encourage an assessment of the situation from an experienced Calgary criminal lawyer. We encourage you to call our office for a free consultation any time or any day of the week.
Common Misunderstandings at Arrest Processing
People often assume that if the police or Crown opposes your release, this means your chances of securing bail are drastically reduced. That is not true. Often further information comes to light from the investigation that alters the Crown's position. More importantly, if a robust bail plan is presented, this could secure your release regardless of the Crown's position.
What Makes a Robust Bail Plan?
A strong bail plan depends entirely on the circumstances. To secure your release, a plan must address one, or two, or all three, of the following grounds:
- Attendance in Court (Primary Ground): Demonstrating that you will attend all required court dates including your trial.
- Preventing Further Offences (Secondary Ground): Showing that measures are in place to prevent future offences.
- Maintaining Public Confidence (Tertiary Ground): In very serious matters, such as major drug trafficking or serious violent offences, the plan must be strict enough that releasing the accused does not undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system.
How these three grounds are addressed depends on your case, your personal background, and the number of charges you have outstanding. Further, certain offences fall within a special reverse onus category. This is where a good bail hearing lawyer in Calgary can immensely assist you in addressing the various nuances that make up the constellation of factors that secure your release.
Protecting Yourself While in Custody
If you are held at the police station or in a remand facility, protect your legal rights by keeping the following in mind.
Phone calls could be monitored
Only conversations with your defence lawyer are confidential and protected by solicitor-client privilege. Calls made from the station to family, friends, or third parties are not private and can be surveilled by police. Anything said about the alleged offence can be used against you at your bail hearing or trial.
You have the right to remain silent
You are not required to give the police a statement, and most criminal lawyers will tell you that it is not in your interests to do so. Telling your side of the story to the police is often damaging to your interests. The police are constitutionally required to advise you of your right to a lawyer and should assist in connecting you with a lawyer of your choice, or will connect you with a free duty counsel lawyer, immediately upon arrest. Only your lawyer should hear your side of the story. Our guide on what to do if you are arrested or detained explains these rights in more detail. Call our office as soon as you are arrested for further guidance.
Immediate Steps for Families and How Hoare Claxton Helps
If a loved one calls from Calgary Arrest Processing, speed and strategy are critical. Families have two primary pathways.
Duty Counsel
Free Legal Aid lawyers operate 24 hours a day to speak with people in custody, confer with the Crown, and assist with straightforward consent releases. If your case is a first offence or does not involve violent or complex allegations, duty counsel may be able to secure release at the police station. However, duty counsel often has a heavy workload that night with other inmates in various other police stations aside from your specific matter. He or she may not be able to deal with your matter as soon as you would like, or devote the time and effort you feel is necessary to protect your interests.
Private Legal Representation
If a private criminal lawyer is retained right away, he or she should immediately try to obtain basic disclosure that night from the Crown within a few hours and negotiate a consent release, if possible. If instructed, they could proceed with a 503 hearing over the phone during that 24 hour window. If instructed, they could instead delay your bail hearing to a later date when both you and the lawyer are fully prepared to put forward the best bail plan before a judge in a court of law.
Key Takeaways
- Section 503 of the Criminal Code requires police to bring you before a Justice of the Peace within 24 hours of arrest.
- Initial opposition to release does not mean you will remain in custody. You could still be released after a contested 503 hearing. However, running a bail hearing without a proper plan and adequately prepared counsel can lead to a lengthy remand period.
- Only conversations with your lawyer are private. Phone calls from the station to friends or family can be recorded and used in court.
- A strong bail plan must address court attendance, public safety, and public confidence in the justice system.
- If you or someone you know is being held in custody in Calgary, call Hoare Claxton Criminal Defence for a free consultation at (587) 355-8889.
