The defendant, a high school principal charged with offences relating to an alleged hug and kiss of a young person, brought an application for a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter.
The total delay from the swearing of the Information to the anticipated end of trial was 19 months and 20 days.
The court deducted approximately 5 months of delay solely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and a brief period of defence delay, resulting in a net delay of 14 months, which is below the 18-month presumptive ceiling for the Ontario Court of Justice.
The court then considered whether the case took markedly longer than it reasonably should have.
Although the court found that the defendant took meaningful steps to expedite the proceedings and criticized the prosecution for a lack of diligence, it ultimately concluded that the 14-month net delay was not inordinate given the serious nature of the charges and the typical intake periods.
The application was dismissed.
