Police Obstruction Charges in Ottawa

Ottawa Criminal Lawyer Céline Dostaler offers a defence against police obstruction charges. Contact her to help protect your rights: 613.863.8595

Police Obstruction Charges: Legal Defence

Police Obstruction is defined as restricting a law enforcement officer from carrying out their duties. Resisting, preventing an arrest, and physically eluding the police are also crimes. A person may be charged with obstruction or resisting arrest even if the police officer was eventually able to carry out their duty and arrest them.

Obstruction of justice can be committed in a variety of ways, such as:

• Willfully obstructing a law enforcement/public officer from executing their duties
• Failing/omitting to assist a public officer in executing his or her duties without valid justification for doing so
• Obstructing any person in the execution of a process against goods or lands
• Willfully attempting to obstruct, defeat, or pervert the execution of justice
• Accepting a fee from a person who has been released from custody or anyone associated with such a person, while acting as a surety
• Attempting to dissuade or dissuading a person from giving evidence by using bribes, threats, or other corrupt means
• Attempting to influence or influencing a juror by using bribes, threats, or other corrupt means
• Accepting or obtaining bribes, or using other corrupt means to abstain from providing evidence, or to refrain from acting justly while acting in the capacity of a juror

Potential punishments for obstructing police:

• The maximum sentence is two years imprisonment.
• Summary conviction can earn you up to six months imprisonment and fines up to $5000
• An exception is provided in the Criminal Code of Canada for a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment if you are found guilty of an indictable offence.

Céline Dostaler, an experienced criminal lawyer in Ottawa, can assist in maneuvering through your police obstruction charge.