Edited and Introduced by Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.

Bernard Cohn, Q.C., (1908-1982) was one of Canada's foremost criminal lawyers whose remarkable legal career spanned fifty-two years. Mr. Cohn was called to the Ontario bar in 1930 and quickly established a law practice in Windsor, Ontario, devoted exclusively to criminal defence work. Following his death, the friends and family of Bernard Cohn established the Bernard Cohn Memorial Lecture Series Trust in the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor. The Bernard Cohn Memorial Lecture in Criminal Law has been delivered annually since 1987.

This volume brings together fifteen of the Bernard Cohn lectures by some of Canada's leading defence counsel and jurists. The collection has been edited by Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C., who is a member of the Lecture Series Trust and who delivered the first lecture in 1987.

Table of Contents

Foreword / Mr. Justice Saul Nosanchuk
Introduction / Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.

Part One: Proof and Innocence
Innocence and Proof: R. v. John Alexander MacKenzie / Joel E. Pink, Q.C.
Susan Nelles: The Defence of Innocence / Austin Cooper, Q.C.
The Presumption of Guilt: Experiences from Milgaard and Other Cases / Hersh Wolch, Q.C.
Thomas Sophonow: A Long Road to Innocence  / G. Greg Brodsky, Q.C.

Part Two: A Variety of Defences
Revisiting the Insanity Defence: The Capital Murder Trial of Matthew Charles Lamb / Mr. Justice Saul Nosanchuk
Sleepwalking as Non-Insane Automatism: R. v. Parks / Marlys Edwardh
Automatism--Legitimate Defence or Legalized Irresponsibility: R. v. Joudrie / Noel C. O'Brien, Q.C.
The Mystique of Science: The Influence of Experts on the Administration of Criminal Justice / Brian H. Greenspan
Taking the Law into Your Own Hands: Child Abduction and the Defence of Necessity / Raphaël H. Schachter

Part Three: Defence Counsel and the Truth
Reflections on a Half-Century of Criminal Practice / Hon. G. Arthur Martin, Q.C.
The Art of the Advocate: R. v. Thatcher / Hon. Gerald N. Allbright
You Can't Judge a Crown Brief by Its Cover: How Preliminary Inquiries Can Avoid Unnecessary Trials / David M. Cohn
The Murder of Bruce Lorenz: The Role of Defence Counsel / Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.
Do We Care about the Truth? Real Truth v. Legal Truth / Hon. Michel Proulx, Q.C.

Part Four: From Law to Politics
From Defence to Offence: Criminal Law Practice as a Prelude to Politics / Frank J. McKenna, P.C., Q.C.