Ann-Marie Calsavara

The accused, an inmate and server in a detention facility, distributed a fentanyl/carfentanil mixture to other inmates, leading to the fatal overdose of one inmate and overdoses in others.

The accused was charged with trafficking and unlawful act manslaughter.

The defence argued that the accused acted as an 'agent for the purchaser' or 'co-purchaser' and that his actions were induced by duress from the inmate hierarchy.

For the manslaughter charge, the defence claimed a lack of factual or legal causation due to alleged intervening acts (suicide, correctional authorities' failure, additional drug intake, voluntary consumption).

The court found the accused guilty of trafficking, rejecting the 'agent for the purchaser' and duress defences, as his actions were voluntary and he had safe avenues of escape.

The court also found him guilty of unlawful act manslaughter, concluding his actions were a significant contributing cause of death, and rejected all alleged intervening acts.

Tyriq Brooks was convicted of multiple offences, including three armed bank robberies and firearm possession.

The court considered aggravating factors such as the planned nature of the robberies, use of a real firearm, threats to victims, profound victim impact, the offender's significant role, and his criminal record including prior weapon prohibition.

Mitigating factors included his youth, family support, limited weight given to challenges as a young Black male, a late guilty plea to firearm possession, and harsh pre-trial custody conditions (Duncan credit).

The court emphasized deterrence and denunciation, imposing a global sentence of 10 years imprisonment, less enhanced pre-sentence custody.

Ancillary orders included a DNA order, lifetime weapon prohibition, non-communication order, and forfeiture.

The defendant, Garnett Akeele Grant, was found guilty after trial of five drug offences, including possession of fentanyl, crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, and simple possession of oxycodone.

The Crown sought a global sentence of 3.5 to 4 years' imprisonment.

The court considered the gravity of the offences, particularly the dangers of fentanyl, alongside significant mitigating factors, including the defendant's youth (18 at the time of offence), first-time offender status, challenging upbringing, and substantial rehabilitative efforts since his arrest.

Finding exceptional circumstances, the court imposed a conditional sentence of two years less a day, followed by three years of probation, a $300 fine for simple possession, a 10-year weapons prohibition, and forfeiture of seized drugs and money.

The defendant, Ryan Patterson, charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, brought an application under s. 24(2) of the Charter to exclude evidence (an iPod Touch, Samsung tablet, and Dell laptop) seized during the execution of a search warrant.

The court had previously ruled the warrant overbroad and invalidly obtained due to insufficient grounds in the Information to Obtain (ITO) to support the seizure of all listed devices.

Applying the R. v. Grant test, the court found the police conduct was careless but not flagrant, the impact on the accused's privacy was mitigated by discoverability (as grounds *could* have been established for a valid warrant), and society had a strong interest in adjudicating the serious charges on their merits.

The application to exclude the evidence was dismissed.

The defendant, Ryan Patterson, faced charges of possession of child pornography.

He brought a pre-trial application under s. 8 of the Charter to quash a search warrant for his residence.

The court found the warrant overbroad, as the Information to Obtain (ITO) lacked sufficient grounds to establish a credibly based probability that a wide range of computer systems and storage devices, beyond a smartphone, would contain evidence of the offence.

The ITO failed to explain how a smartphone-based KIK upload would lead to evidence on other devices.

Consequently, the warrant was quashed due to a violation of the defendant's Section 8 Charter rights.

The accused, D.B., was charged with sexually assaulting N.S. The central issue at trial was whether D.B. had an honest but mistaken belief that N.S. consented to penetration.

The court considered the couple's established pattern of non-verbally communicating consent after an initial verbal refusal, particularly N.S.'s past practice of signaling readiness through body language after a period of comfort.

The court found D.B.'s version of events, including N.S. repeatedly pressing her vagina against his erection, to be credible and consistent with their established customs.

Doubts were raised about the reliability of N.S.'s testimony regarding the critical moments preceding penetration due to inconsistencies with prior statements and her initial post-incident uncertainty.

The court concluded that D.B. took reasonable steps to ascertain consent given the specific circumstances and their relationship history.

As the Crown failed to prove the mens rea element beyond a reasonable doubt, D.B. was found not guilty of sexual assault.

The defendants, brothers Garret and Garnett Grant, were arrested following a traffic stop that escalated into a search for cannabis and then a firearm.

They faced charges related to unauthorized firearm possession and possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking.

Both defendants brought Charter applications alleging arbitrary detention, unreasonable searches, and breaches of their right to counsel, including racial profiling.

The court dismissed the Charter applications for arbitrary detention and unreasonable search, finding the police conduct lawful and not racially motivated.

However, it found a breach of the right to be informed of the reason for detention (s. 10(a)) due to delayed notification of drug charges.

Applying the Grant analysis, the court admitted the evidence.

On the merits, Garret Grant was found guilty of all firearm charges, while Garnett Grant was found guilty of most drug trafficking charges and simple possession of oxycodone.

Garret Grant was acquitted of all drug charges, and Garnett Grant was acquitted of one drug trafficking count.