Tessmer Law Offices

 

 

Welcome to Tessmer Law Offices

When your liberty, livelihood, family or assets are on the line, think of Tessmer Law Offices.  Our philosophy, 'When losing is not an option' really says it all.  We are a small group of highly motivated and skilled lawyers who work with you to get the results you need. Whether the government is trying to take and keep your assets or whether they are trying to put you in jail, we do whatever it takes under our constitution to make sure that doesn't happen. We leave no stone unturned to fight your legal battles. Browse the site to meet the lawyers, hear about some of our battles, and get updates on important legal issues of our time. Or, join the dialogue on Twitter and check out our Facebook page. While no lawyer can guarantee a win in Court a wise person makes sure he has a skilled advocate by his side to ensure the best possible outcome. 

 

Civil Forfeiture Law

This is the newest weapon in the British Columbia government’s arsenal   to take your assets. Even if you don’t get charged with a crime, the police may seize your money, your valuables, and even your house, if they can prove that it was probably used for a criminal purpose. The Civil Forfeiture Act gives wide powers to the ‘Director’ of Civil Forfeiture to commence lawsuits against your property to lead to a forfeiture.

In a recent case where the police tried to seize our client’s home, we were able to get the case dropped because the police violated our client’s rights in the process of executing a search warrant for a marihuana grow operation. The law of civil forfeiture is evolving and in order to protect your assets, you need someone knowledgeable in this area.

If you have a legal issue you want a Civil Forfeiture lawyer to help with, ASK NOW!

 

Criminal Law

Criminal defence is our passion and we defend against charges of all kinds.  If you are facing charges for assault, theft, impaired driving, drug-related offences, driving while prohibited, or any other crime, we can help. 

Our criminal defence practice has successfully defended our client’s at all court levels in Canada including the British Columbia Provincial and Supreme Courts, the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. 

We are at the forefront of “cutting edge” law and our criminal defence lawyers keep apprised of new developments in both statute and the common law.   We are constantly researching new laws and even have our own internal library filled with case precedents and authorities that we will rely on when we defend you. If you have a defence, we will find it and we will get you results. 

We also understand that financing can be a concern for many people facing criminal charges. One thing clients often worry about when deciding whether to get a lawyer is the “hidden costs” that other firms may charge. You can put this concern aside when you come to Tessmer Law Offices as our criminal defence lawyers offer “flat-rate billing”. This means that the amount we quote you at the outset is the amount you’ll pay for our services when we resolve your matter. We also offer three highly capable criminal defence lawyers with varying experience; we surely have a lawyer who can suit your financial constraints and satisfy your legal needs. 

To find out more information from one of our criminal defence lawyers, ASK NOW

 

Untruthful officer results in IRP overturned

It finally happened - a successful battle of credibility with a police officer in relation to an Immediate Roadside Prohibition (IRP).

As you've probably heard, Mr. Armour has helped many clients over the past few years with respect to fighting numerous IRPs for various reasons, but up until this past week, every successful argument he'd made had been won for a "legal argument" or a "technicality" as opposed to on grounds of credibility.  In cases involving questions of credibility (ie. "the police officer says X occured, but the client says it was really Y") the adjuicators at the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles have ALWAYS sided with the police.  In fact, it got so bad that Mr. Armour would jokingly warn his clients about the unspoken "presumption of guilt" when it came to dealing with an IRP.  (As you of course know, in a criminal court with a Judge, all people are supposed to be presumed innocent, but when it came to fighting with the OSMV or ICBC, everyone seemed to be presumed guilty).

But such is not the case for one of Mr. Armour's most recent clients.  In this instance the officer swore an affidavit saying that he had advised the Defendant of his right to provide a second blow on a second machine, and that he blew two "fails" on two different machines.  The officer even included calibration certificates for two different devices with two different serial numbers, much as is probably the same as in your case if you're reading this.  However, despite the renouned "presumption of guilt", Mr. Armour's client adamantly maintained that the officer was lying about having two machines and that both tests were taken on the same device.  The adjudicator who decided the matter - while not directly calling the officer a liar - noted a number of inconsistencies pointed out by Mr. Armour in relation to the officer's evidence which caused the adjudicator fo say that he was unable to conclude on a balance of probabilities that the officer was correct about the client's tests being taken on two different machines despite his insistence that they were.   As such, the prohibition was quashed and Mr. Armour's client is already back on the road with his car out of the impoundment lot.

While this was a very rare result, and the presumption of guilt is likely still very much alive in most other cases, It just goes to show that even when you think your chances of winning are about zero, if you come see Mr. Armour for a consultation, he'll be able to better advise you if there's any hope whatsoever.



Contact Us

 

Tessmer Law Offices
272 Bernard Avenue,
Kelowna, British Columbia
V1Y 6N4

 

tel. 250-762-6747
fax. 250-762-3163

email. [email protected]

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