WHITE OAKS SECONDARY SCHOOL
Criminal Law and Procedure: CLU 3M Understanding Canadian Law
CRIMINAL CASE ANALYSIS:
Complete the following worksheet using a recent newspaper article, your class text, and the
Criminal Code of Canada.
CRITERIA:
In a paragraph, describe the case.
Indicate the offence committed, whether it is
an indictable, summary or hybrid offence,
the Actus Reus and Mens Rea of the offence,
and what the maximum sentence is as
outlined in the Criminal Code.
Indicate the types of evidence you think the
Crown (Prosecution or those bringing
charges) will present in the case.
Indicate the types of evidence that you think
YOUR RESPONSE:
This case is about a Toronto cop who claims
he “accidentally” pocketed $360 from a dead
man’s table. He says he took it to give it to
the deceased’s brother but made no
documentation of it, did not take pictures of
the bills, and did not mention it in any report.
He was questioned about 2 weeks later by
the deceased’s brother and argued that he
just took the money for safe keeping, not
himself. He is being accused of breach of
trust and theft under $5000 and has pleaded
not guilty to both charges. The Crown argues
that he deliberately took the money.
The cop was charged with breach of trust and
theft and this is an indictable offence. The
actus reus is that the cop took the deceased’s
money and then failed to document it or
deliver it to the deceased’s brother which
makes it theft. The mens rea is unclear
because the cop claims that his intentions
were not to steal, they were to safekeep the
money. He said he is diagnosed with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which
led him to fail to document about the money.
It’s unclear whether he actually had a guilty
mind and intention.
the defence (the accused) will use when
presenting its case.