Adrian Brooks

This application concerns the interpretation of the Holograph Will of David Dewling Moss, who died in 2024.

The court was asked to determine whether the Canadian Cancer Society is the intended beneficiary of the estate, despite the will referring only to the "Cancer Society" and whether any other next of kin could be beneficiaries.

The court found that the Deceased intended to benefit the Canadian Cancer Society, and that the will, though informal, expressed a fixed and final intention.

The court also found that all reasonable steps were taken to identify and serve potential beneficiaries, and no one opposed the application.

The application was granted.

The appellant fatally shot his live-in companion during an argument and was convicted of second degree murder.

At trial, he claimed the shooting was an accident, but the jury rejected this defence.

On appeal, he argued the trial judge erred by failing to instruct the jury on the defence of intoxication vitiating intent, which could have reduced the conviction to manslaughter.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that while the strict capacity test from Beard no longer governs, the evidence of intoxication in this case was insufficient to permit a reasonable inference that the appellant did not in fact foresee the consequences of his actions.