A. C. Presswood

The appellant appealed his conviction and sentence for assault with a weapon arising from an altercation with his landlord.

The appellant argued the trial judge misapprehended evidence, improperly found corroboration, and applied uneven scrutiny to the defence evidence.

The summary conviction appeal court dismissed the conviction appeal, finding the trial judge's credibility assessments and factual findings were reasonable and supported by the evidence.

However, the sentence appeal was allowed.

The court found the sentencing judge erred by failing to give adequate weight to the Crown's position that a conditional sentence was appropriate, and replaced the 60-day intermittent jail sentence with a 9-month conditional sentence.

The appellant appealed his conviction for sexual assault, which allegedly occurred on a commercial flight while the complainant was sleeping.

The summary conviction appeal court found that the trial judge erred by failing to adequately address the reliability of the complainant's evidence, improperly discounting the appellant's good character evidence, and engaging in impermissible speculation by taking judicial notice of the aircraft's seat configuration without evidence.

The appeal was allowed, the conviction set aside, and a new trial ordered.