C. Nadler

The accused was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and breaching a recognizance after a five-year-old child was found severely beaten in a wooded area.

The Crown's case relied entirely on circumstantial evidence, including the accused's motive stemming from a deteriorating relationship with the child's mother, his opportunity to commit the crime, pattern bruising on the child matching the accused's shoes, and the child's DNA found under the accused's fingernails.

The court applied the Villaroman test for circumstantial evidence and concluded that the only reasonable inference was that the accused committed the assault.

The accused was found guilty on all counts.

During a trial for attempted murder and aggravated assault, a key Crown witness refused to be sworn and testify.

The Crown brought an application under section 715(1) of the Criminal Code to admit the witness's testimony from the preliminary inquiry.

The accused opposed the application, arguing he did not have a full opportunity to cross-examine the witness at the preliminary inquiry because he subsequently obtained new impeachment materials.

The court held that the accused had a full opportunity to cross-examine and that admitting the prior testimony would not occasion unfairness, provided the newly discovered impeachment materials were also admitted into evidence.

The Crown's application was granted subject to conditions.

During a trial for attempted murder and aggravated assault, the Crown applied to admit a statement made by the victim to a bystander shortly after being stabbed.

The victim, bleeding and seeking help, told the bystander that his assailant was his girlfriend's boyfriend.

The court found the statement met the criteria for the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule, as it was made contemporaneously with the startling event and before there was time to fabricate.

The application was granted and the statement was admitted into evidence.

The applicant, charged with conspiracy to commit murder following a gang-related mass shooting, applied for bail under section 522 of the Criminal Code.

The Crown opposed release on the secondary and tertiary grounds.

The court found that while the Crown's case was not overwhelming, it was not weak, and the proposed release plan with family sureties was insufficient to address the significant public safety concerns and the need to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice.

The application was dismissed and detention was ordered.

A young offender was convicted of manslaughter for his role as a lookout during a fatal shooting in a fast food restaurant washroom.

The Crown sought the maximum three-year sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, while the defence sought a sentence of time served with enhanced credit for pre-sentence custody.

The court denied enhanced credit, finding no exceptional circumstances, and sentenced the offender to two years and nine months in closed custody, less time served, followed by two years of probation.

The young person, charged with first-degree murder, brought a motion for a directed verdict at the close of the Crown's case.

The Crown alleged the young person aided and abetted two others in the planned and deliberate shooting of the victim in a restaurant washroom.

The court applied the test for a directed verdict, assessing whether a properly instructed jury could reasonably convict based on the circumstantial evidence.

Finding sufficient evidence from which a jury could infer the young person knew of the plan and acted as a lookout, the court dismissed the motion.

The accused was charged with multiple firearm and drug offences after police executed a search warrant at his residence and found a loaded prohibited firearm, ammunition, and drugs in his bedroom.

The accused pleaded guilty to the drug charges but denied knowledge of the firearm and ammunition, which were found in a shared closet.

A friend of the accused testified that he had hidden the firearm and ammunition in the closet without the accused's knowledge.

Applying the W.(D.) test for credibility, the court accepted the accused's testimony and found that the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused had knowledge of the firearm and ammunition.

The accused was acquitted of the firearm charges.

The accused, charged with multiple offences across three dates including uttering death threats, unlawful confinement, and weapons offences against his wife, applied to sever the charges into separate trials.

The court dismissed the application, finding a strong factual and legal nexus between the events, a risk of inconsistent verdicts given the complainant's recantation, and that evidence from each incident would likely be admissible in the others to provide context and establish post-offence conduct.