Barry E. Plant

Tyrone Joseph pleaded guilty to aggravated assault after stabbing Cassandra Cole multiple times, causing grievous injuries.

The court considered mitigating factors, including his guilty plea, genuine remorse, and efforts towards rehabilitation, alongside aggravating factors such as the severity and unprovoked nature of the attack, the profound victim impact, and the offender's cognate criminal record and alcohol abuse.

The decision applied "Downes credit" for stringent bail conditions, "Summers credit" for pre-trial custody (1.5:1), and "Duncan credit" for harsh detention conditions (lockdowns, triple-bunking).

A net sentence of 33¼ months imprisonment was imposed after deducting 502 days for bail and pre-trial custody credits, along with various ancillary orders.

The accused was convicted of unlawful possession of a loaded restricted firearm, possession of proceeds of crime, and possession of fentanyl and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking following a search warrant execution.

Although a Charter breach was established, evidence was admitted under s. 24(2).

The Crown sought six years incarceration and argued gang membership as an aggravating factor.

The court rejected the gang membership finding due to insufficient evidence and unreliable police synopses and occurrence reports.

The court imposed a global sentence of four years less three months as remedy for the Charter breach, with the firearm offense receiving two years nine months and one year consecutive for fentanyl trafficking.

Following a finding of a section 8 Charter breach in a prior decision (R. v. Muhammad, 2018 ONCJ 468), the court addressed whether evidence seized pursuant to a defective search warrant should be admitted or excluded under section 24(2) of the Charter.

The affiant's Information to Obtain contained misstatements regarding surveillance that had not been conducted and omissions regarding the accused's lack of criminal record, despite references to a "lengthy criminal past" involving weapons.

The court applied the Grant test, examining the seriousness of the breach, the impact on the accused's Charter-protected interests, and society's interest in adjudication on the merits.

The court concluded that while the breach was serious, it did not rise to the level of egregious conduct, and the reliable evidence (drugs and firearm) was necessary for trial.

The evidence was admitted.

The applicant brought a section 8 Charter application seeking exclusion of all evidence seized pursuant to a search warrant executed at 150 Dan Leckie Way, unit #1701, on July 16, 2017.

The warrant was based primarily on information from a confidential source regarding the applicant's possession of firearms and drugs.

The court conducted a Garofoli hearing to determine whether the warrant could have validly issued.

After excising inaccurate statements regarding surveillance and the applicant's criminal history, the court applied the Debot criteria to assess the confidential source information.

While the information was found to be compelling, the court determined that the credibility of the source was weak and corroboration was minimal.

On the totality of circumstances, the court found the ITO insufficient to support issuance of the warrant and established a breach of section 8 of the Charter.

The defendant was convicted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and importing less than one kilogram of cocaine into Canada.

The Crown sought a sentence of three to four years in penitentiary, while the defence sought six to nine months.

The court imposed a sentence of three and a half years (1,278 days) on the importing charge, with credit for restrictive bail time reducing the sentence to serve to three years (1,098 days), and a concurrent six-month sentence on the possession charge.

The court considered the defendant's background, employment history, and character references, but emphasized that denunciation and deterrence were paramount given the serious nature of drug importation and the defendant's prior trafficking conviction.

The defendant was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and importing cocaine into Canada.

A parcel containing cocaine was shipped from Trinidad to an address in Oshawa.

An undercover police officer, posing as a Canada Post employee, delivered the parcel.

The defendant intercepted the delivery, demonstrated knowledge of the sender and intended recipient, accepted the parcel, and brought it inside a residence.

Within 23 minutes, police executed a search warrant and found the parcel opened on a kitchen table.

The defendant fled upon police entry.

The court found the defendant guilty of both counts based on direct and circumstantial evidence establishing possession and knowledge of the illegal drugs.

The offender pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a nine-year-old child on Christmas Day, 2013.

While in the living room of the victim's home, the offender grabbed the child's buttocks twice.

The victim was profoundly traumatized by the incident.

The Crown and defence jointly submitted to a sentence of 90 days' imprisonment to be served intermittently.

The court accepted the joint submission as proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the offender's degree of responsibility, and as appropriately calibrated to address sentencing objectives including deterrence, denunciation, and rehabilitation.

The defendant pleaded guilty to eight counts of giving contradictory evidence in relation to his testimony at various court proceedings in a second-degree murder case involving the death of a two-and-a-half-year-old child.

The defendant's testimony evolved significantly across multiple hearings, from denying knowledge of the child's injuries to eventually admitting responsibility.

The court imposed a sentence of three years imprisonment, emphasizing the serious nature of misleading evidence in homicide proceedings and the need for general deterrence and denunciation.