Crown vs Dhanani Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crown vs Dhanani - Essay Example Courtroom Number and Name of the Judge: The courtroom number was 308 and the presiding judge was R. Low. Level of Court: The trial took place on what is a provincial court level. Facts: The defendant, Mr Ayaz Dhanani, was convicted of fraud as well as breach of his prior conditional sentencing. What transpired was that Mr Ayaz Dhanani sought to have his house refurbished and subsequently sought out a furniture company to accomplish this task. The issue was further complicated when the cheque that Mr Ayaz Dhanani wrote to the furntire company bounced due to insufficient funds available in his account. For writing a bad cheque, Mr Ayaz Dhanani was arraigned and served a brief period of time in jail. After which, he was released on a conditional sentence. During the period of his conditional sentence, Mr Ayaz Dhanani was found by authorities at the Shangri-La hotel. When apprehended, Mr Ayaz Dhanani was consuming large quantities of expensive liquors and had a very large sum of cash on his person as well as in the hotel’s vault. He was subsequently taken into custody and pleaded guilty to all charges. Procedural History: Mr Ayaz Dhanani (the defendant) was subsequently convicted of fraud and sentenced to serve jail time. Once he was released from detention, his conditional sentence placed restrictions on his mobility and certain freedoms. Due to the fact that he flagrantly violated these conditions, he violated his conditional release and was subsequently taken back into police custody. Issues: Did Mr Ayaz Dhanani violate his conditional sentencing? Decision: Mr Ayaz Dhanani was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to one day in prison. In addition to this jail time, the court also ordered Mr. Ayaz Dhanani to perform an unspecified amount of community service. Reasons: Judge R. Low’s decision was subsequently based on the following two reasons. 1) Mr Dhanani did not seem to appreciate the importance and gravity of the conditional sentence which he was given and was â€Å"living large† in the face of it. 2) Mr Dhanani did not seem to grasp the seriousness of his crime as it related to what he had done to his parents. The argument that the crown prosecutor pursued with relation to this case hinged upon the fact that Mr Ayaz Dhanani was found to be drinking alcohol that was in excess of $60 dollars per glass. At the same time, he was staying in what could only be deemed a luxury hotel. In addition to violating the terms of his conditional release, Mr Dhanani was in personal possession of a very large sum of sequentially numbered US bills ($12,000.00). Thus this provided even further evidence of a breach of his conditional sentencing. Likewise, the argument that the prosecution eloquently made was that due to the fact that Mr Ayaz Dhanani’s parents had already been forced to sell their house in order to pay for the debts incurred by their son, the money that was found in the hotel vault of the Shangri-la should h ave immediately found its way back into the hands of his parents. The fact that this did not occur coupled with the fact that Mr Ayaz Dhanani was apprehended while â€Å"living large† was yet another proof that the good faith conditional release was not respected by him. The judge further stated that due to the lack of lessons learned coupled with his â€Å"unwillingness to be mature†, the court was left no choice but to put him into custody. The defence was left to argue, rather weakly one might add, that the result of the lavish accommodations and drinks that Mr Dhanani was enjoying were the result of his female friend who was paying for these. Furthermore, the defense argued that the money that was found in the safe was not a pertinent legal concern. Ratio: Specific: A conditional senten