Sal Caramanna graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1995 and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1997. Since that time, he has practiced exclusively in the area of criminal law as defence counsel and has become a leading member of the criminal defence bar in the Toronto area. He has a particular interest in defending high-stakes charges and complex cases, and has represented clients charged with First Degree Murder, Manslaughter, Participating in a Criminal Organization, Conspiracy to Traffic in Controlled Drugs, Trafficking and Importing Narcotics, Firearms offences, Corporate and Commercial Fraud, Sexual Assault, Aggravated Assault, and Criminal Negligence Causing Death.
Mr. Caramanna is a fearless and innovative advocate. He has conducted hundreds of trials in all levels of trial courts in Ontario, and in virtually every court in south-central Ontario. He has had particular success in arguing cases before juries. Many cases he has defended have been high profile and covered extensively by the media.
Mr. Caramanna is a member of the Criminal Lawyers Association, the Toronto Lawyers Association and a past member of the Peel Lawyers Association. As well, Mr. Caramanna was actively involved in AIDWYC (now Innocence Canada), serving as the Chair of the International Review Committee from 2008 to 2013, when AIDWYC ceased international work. Mr. Caramanna reviewed numerous cases for the IRC and travelled frequently to the USA to meet with wrongly convicted defendants to aid in their fights to exonerate themselves. Mr. Caramanna continued to work on several wrongful conviction cases after the IRC ceased operations and continues to do so. Mr. Caramanna was a founding board member of the AIDWYC Foundation, serving from 2009 to 2011. Mr. Caramanna served on the board of directors of the American based Innocence Network, the umbrella organization overseeing the work of the many Innocence Projects, for two and half years from 2011 to 2013.
Prior to law school, Mr. Caramanna graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 1992 where he obtained a Specialist degree in Nutritional Sciences, one of the pre-medical school programmes at U of T. His background in science has proven particularly useful in defending cases involving forensic evidence and scientific testing.
