Checklist: Before your trial

At your first appearance

• Get the following documents from the prosecutor and read them carefully:
  • the disclosure, including
  • the Information, and
  • the Crown’s initial sentencing position.
  • Tell the court that you want to plead not guilty.
    • Ask the judicial case manager to set a date for the arraignment hearing. (You may need to come back to court to do this.)
      • Ask for an interpreter — or tell the court that you want your trial to be conducted in French instead of English — if this applies to you.

        Before your arraignment hearing

        • Ask for a list of the prosecutor’s witnesses (if you don’t have this yet).
        • Start to think about what evidence you’ll use to support your side of the story. (There may be information for your particular charge in the Defending Yourself series.)
        • Decide if you have witnesses that can help you. Make plans to get your witnesses to come to trial. (See How do I prepare my own witnesses?)

          At your arraignment hearing

          • Take notes when the prosecutor presents information about your case.
          • Answer the judicial case manager’s minor procedural (“housekeeping”) questions about what you plan to do at your trial. Remember that you don’t need to offer any information that could work against you.
          • Answer the judicial case manager’s questions about how you’ve prepared for your trial. Remember that you don’t have to discuss your innocence and shouldn’t admit to anything before speaking to a lawyer.
          • Ask the judicial case manager to order the prosecutor to give you any documents relevant to your case that they have but haven’t yet provided to you.
          • Tell the judicial case manager you want to set a date for your trial.

            Before your trial

            • • Talk to a lawyer to get advice about your case. Ask the lawyer about the prosecutor’s evidence and whether you can object to it (challenge it) before it’s submitted. (See The prosecutor presents the Crown’s case.)
              • Think about what questions you might ask each Crown witness. (See Can I question the Crown’s witnesses?)
              • Get advice from a lawyer about whether you should testify. (See Should I testify?)
              • Think about what questions you’ll ask your own witnesses, and make notes of which to ask whom.
              • Tell your witnesses what to expect at the trial but don’t tell them what to say. (You can’t ​“tamper” with a witness’s evidence.) Make sure they know where to go and how to get there. If necessary, subpoena (pronounced supEENa) your witnesses (order them to come to court).
              • Get advice about what written evidence or documents might be useful.