The King v. L.(D.) 2023

Two women were sitting on a patio when they noticed something strange.  The man who lived across the street appeared to be masturbating while he was on a dolly underneath his truck.  As the women looked closer they became convinced that he was indeed masturbating and he appeared to be looking right at them while doing so.  The police were called and the client was eventually charged with committing a lewd act in public.  The client hired Mr. van der Walle to defend him.  After reviewing the case Mr. van der Walle advised the client to plead not guilty.  The problem with the Crown’s case was that although the women were convinced the man was looking right at them while masturbating (which implied that he intended for them to see him masturbating, a necessary element the Crown had to prove to make the charge stick), they were about 100 feet away when they made that observation and the man had been wearing dark sunglasses at the time.  As the trial approached Mr. van der Walle spoke to the Crown prosecutor and convinced him that the Crown would have serious difficulties proving that the client knew he was being seen while masturbating.  The Crown begrudgingly agreed and dropped the charge by entering a stay of proceedings.  Not guilty, no trial necessary.