Michael Edelson (lawyer)

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Michael Edelson
Born1949 (1949)[1]
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada[1]
Alma materCarleton University
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law
OccupationLawyer
Children2
Websiteedelsonlaw.ca

Michael Edelson (born 1949)[1] is a Canadian criminal defence lawyer based in Ottawa, Ontario. He has represented numerous high-profile clients in Canada.

Education

Edelson earned a bachelor of arts in English from Carleton University,[2] and graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law in 1975.[3] He was admitted to the Ontario bar in 1977.[4]

Career

Edelson started out practicing family, criminal, and commercial law, before shifting his focus exclusively to criminal law.[4][5] By 2010, he had represented 55 clients accused of murder.[6] He is known for "a tough, direct style"[4] and "intense preparation and meticulous cross-examinations."[5]

Clients

Since 1980, Edelson has successfully defended a number of police officers against criminal charges, including Constable Martin Cardinal, who won a conditional discharge after pleading guilty following a videotaped assault on a woman during her arrest;[4] Constable Daniel Montsion, an Ottawa police officer who was found not guilty on charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon while arresting Abdirahman Abdi, who died during the arrest;[7] and Steven Desjourdy, a police sergeant accused of sexually assaulting a female prisoner.[8] In 2006, he initially represented David Frost, a former NHL agent who was charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation and one count of assault, related to alleged incidents involving boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16, taking place from 1995 to 2001.[9] Edelson later passed the case to Marie Henein.[10] In 2010, he defended Col. Russell Williams, a pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces who was accused of raping and murdering two women near the Trenton air base he commanded. He was also charged with two counts of forcible confinement and 82 break-ins, after a four-year string of burglaries.[11][12] He pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.[11] In 2014, he defended Khurram Sher, a former pathologist living in London, Ontario, accused of joining an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell in Ottawa.[13] Sher was found not guilty of conspiring to facilitate terrorism. It was the first time in Canada that a person accused of terrorist offenses had gone to trial and been acquitted.[14] Edelson represented Liban Hussein, a Canadian entrepreneur who was one of the first in Canada to be accused of terrorism financing; he was ultimately cleared.[4] Edelson also represented Maher Arar, who was suspected of terrorism activity but was not charged[15] (and would later receive a $10 million settlement from the Canadian government),[16] and Abdullah Almalki, who was imprisoned and tortured for two years in a Syrian jail after being falsely considered a terrorist threat.[4]

Personal life

Edelson is married with two children.[4]

Bibliography

  • Edelson, Michael; Salhany, Roger; Clifford, Vincent (2016). Cross-Examination: The Art of the Advocate, Fourth Edition. Toronto: LexisNexis. ISBN 978-0433475934.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Birth Records and Announcements". cjhn.ca. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Biography". The Alumni Association. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section Celebrates Mooting Excellence". uOttawa. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TS
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named citizen
  6. ↑ Gibb, David A. (2011). Camouflaged Killer: The Shocking Double Life Colonel Russell Williams. New York: Penguin. ISBN 9781101558492. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "Const. Daniel Montsion not guilty in death of Abdirahman Abdi". CBC. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  8. ↑ Gillis, Megan (5 January 2013). "Steven Desjourdy's defence lawyer wraps case without putting Ottawa cop accused of sexual assault on stand". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Agent targeted for murder faces sex charges in Ontario". ESPN. 22 August 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Frost acquitted on all sexual exploitation charges". CBC. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gardiner, Heather (3 January 2011). "Behind the scenes". Canadian Lawyer. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Appleby, Timothy (17 February 2010). "Williams hires high-profile defence lawyer". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "Khurram Sher defence say Crown hasn't established motive". CBC. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  14. ↑ Seymour, Andrew (19 August 2014). "Khurram Sher found not guilty of facilitating terrorism: 'It feels great'". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  15. ↑ "Can colonel get a fair trial?". Law Times. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Ottawa reaches $10M settlement with Arar". CBC. 25 January 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
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