Comments for One Phone Call is Not Enough: Court Rules You Have the Right to Google a Lawyer at http://www.michaelgeist.ca , comment 1 to 17 out of 17 comments http://www.michaelgeist.ca Sat, 18 May 2013 15:29:25 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-52071 If you want to recover the lost data of your phone, you can try WiseRecovery. wiserecovery - david Fri, 08 Mar 2013 02:44:42 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51933 If it holds up under Appeals, this may be a feasible way for Defendants to locate and contact the most qualified Attorney. Something to consider. We will follow this and may place it on http://LawBot.net - LawBot.net Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:33:53 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51924 this is ridiculous, can he read the phone book? Also the police and all provinces use a legal aid number that will have a lawyer call you back...and someone asked how this would hinder police resources...how many minutes are you going to let each person arrested in the middle of the night browse the internet Searching for the lawyers who want to be contacted at 3 in the morning? prisoner are given a legal aid number that gives them the on call lawyer who will give them legal advice. If a prisoner asked for a specific number for a lawyer, the police will search if for them to ensure a legal arrest... - ip cop Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:58:37 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51921 I was told that he could not have a computer or mobile device for 5 months, while I was doing because at the same time three different organizations. Tell me, how does this effect my judgment? - sojib Sat, 23 Feb 2013 06:54:42 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51895 Or simply use Lawyerlocate.ca we have handled over 150K referrals in the past 10 years. - Mark robins Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:41:42 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51893 I don't think anybody supports or like the way an teenager did his bit. Windows MAC Support - Barebones Thu, 21 Feb 2013 02:06:03 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51892 I'm sure it's more than half the phones. - Jessie Thu, 21 Feb 2013 01:46:25 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51890 Welcome to the future, where half the phones run on the Internet now anyway. - Ki Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:04:15 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51886 It's a bad decision, and seems unlikely to stand up to appeal. It is also an Alberta Provincial Court decision, and not binding on other courts. It will likely lead to a number of unsuccessful charter arguments at criminal trials, which will make a lot of extra money for defense counsel, but I doubt that there will be any substantial change in police procedure unless this is confirmed at the appellate level (at least.). The recent Saskatchewan Provincial decision which found that failing to add colons to the 24 hour time recorded on a Certificate of Analysis was a fatal error also made no difference to operational police procedure, and when it falls to appeal, not much will have changed. There are some misleading elements in your article. You state that "He called the toll-free number but was unable to find assistance.", but what he actually said, according to the decision was that the person he called (presumably legal aid duty counsel) was 'abrupt', and 'did not give him anymore information than he already had received from the arresting officer'. He apparently spoke with duty counsel for approximately five minutes. I'm not sure if you've ever practiced criminal law, but the actual advice provided to arrested persons in impaired cases rarely takes longer than three minutes. From what people have told me, it usually amounts to "blow when and where they tell you, don't play games. Do not provide any statements" Given that a young person accused of impaired driving for the first time probably wants to hear how their lawyer is going to make the police let them go and not charge them, its unsurprising that the Accused would have been unsatisfied with the advice. The Accused was also not diligent in exercising his 10(b) rights, he never asked for another call, nor asked for more resources to seek counsel. The Accused apparently knew what phone books were, but chose not to consult them either. Asking the police to equip every counsel-call room with an internet PC is asking for a whole lot of new case law. We are going to need direction on what sort of resources the in-custody persons can access: can they use the internet to seek a forum or community post that provides 'legal advice', thinking it will be cheaper than a lawyer? What if it is bad advice? What if they decide to use the connection to the internet to contact criminal associates "Hide the dope, they're coming with a warrant!", or to send commands remotely to a computer "Wipe out the porn archive!", or a person under arrest for harassment may take the last opportunity to send yet another threatening message to his victim. Should the police be permitted to monitor the computer use of an arrested person seeking counsel? What if the search terms used are revealing (person in custody for impaired driving searching for "cocaine lawyer calgary", for example) of a person's true fears of what the police might discover? Most Canadian police forces do not allow a detained person to make outgoing calls, the usual practice is for the officer to call the lawyer's office or personal number, find out who they are speaking to, confirm that they are a lawyer and then pass the phone (or transfer the call) to the person. If the lawyer is not answering directly, the officer will leave a number for call-back, which may or may not be answered directly by the detainee. The inherently two-way nature of internet communications will pose a large number of problems for any police force required to provide internet access to detained persons seeking counsel. - Ubique Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:58:36 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51884 A good step in the right direction, in a facet of life that is excessively slow to progress with technology. One thing though: how will this cause resource strain? What police station wouldn't have internet access these days? Also,time_warp, that seems incredulous to me. I'm extremely curious what that's all about. - FuzzPot Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:42:44 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51882 seems to me that a teenager would be more familiar with google than anything else. makes total sense to me. - Scott Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:33:25 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51881 It's hard to imagine that a half-drunk teenager would know who to call for legal help at 2:00 a.m. - Ray Saintonge Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:22:15 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51879 Ruling only effects DUI cases. It's a step but nothing concrete yet. - time_warp Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:01:00 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51878 I was told I could not possess a computer or cellular device for 5 months while I was simultaneously suing 3 different organizations. Tell me, how does this ruling effect me? - time_warp Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:50:24 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51877 is recognition that this also means that governments shouldn't be messing with filtering what we can and can't get to online. - Chris Brand Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:20:06 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51875 I wonder if this would include going back and forth on http://legal.advicescene.com/ca for obtaining legal "advice"? - Matthew Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:05:24 +0100 http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6788/135/#comment-51872 You've been able to replace judges with PCs (and some software) with 96% accuracy since about '85. It's about time they discovered the telephone, cell, beeper, CB and other forms of communication. NOTE: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7CZTJ8B an international harmonization? Obama setting up a fluff-guard or real (There's LOTS to harmonize. Ask any trader/convenencing agent about forbidden items.) pat - pat donovan Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:00:06 +0100