The accused sought a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter in a summary conviction intimate partner violence prosecution, arguing that delayed disclosure and the complainant's non-attendance at the second trial caused unconstitutional delay.
Applying the Jordan framework, the court deducted formal waivers and multiple periods of defence-caused delay arising from disclosure inaction, failure to conduct pretrials, unavailability for earlier trial dates, and an adjournment of the first trial requested by the defence.
The court held that the resulting net delay was 546 days, or 17.9 months, below the 18-month presumptive ceiling.
Although the court rejected the Crown's submission that the witness's unexplained non-attendance constituted a discrete exceptional circumstance, it concluded the accused had not established a basis for a subceiling stay.
