Cindy R. Wasser

The Crown appealed a stay of proceedings granted to the respondents, who were charged with first-degree murder in the death of their infant daughter.

The trial judge stayed the charges due to unreasonable delay under s. 11(b) of the Charter, largely caused by the failings of the Crown's pathologist.

The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge erred in including pre-charge delay in his calculation as a remedy for the cremation of the child's remains.

However, the Court upheld the stay, concluding that the post-charge delay of 55 months for one respondent and 42.5 months for the other was unreasonable and severely prejudiced their liberty and security interests.

The appellant appealed his conviction, arguing the verdict was unreasonable due to discrepancies in the victim's description, specifically the failure to notice a cleft chin.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the circumstantial evidence implicated the appellant and the victim's description was similar to the appellant's appearance.

The court concluded that the failure to notice a cleft chin was not an exculpatory dissimilarity and the verdict was not unreasonable.