Corbin Francis Cawkell

Josiph Cardle, charged with first-degree murder, applied for judicial interim release.

The court considered the primary, secondary, and tertiary grounds for detention under s. 515(10) of the Criminal Code.

While the gravity of the offence and potential sentence were significant, the court found no substantial likelihood of flight or risk to public safety.

Crucially, the court determined that the apparent strength of the Crown's case for first-degree murder was not strong, citing issues with causation and the accused's understanding of the oxygen machine's role.

The court also emphasized that poverty and homelessness should not be a basis for detention.

Cardle was released on a recognizance with conditions, without a surety or fixed residential address.

The accused was charged with manslaughter in relation to the death of his 82-year-old mother and assault causing bodily harm in relation to his aunt.

During an argument at the front door of the family home, the accused pushed his aunt, which caused her to fall into his mother, resulting in his mother falling down concrete stairs.

His mother died in hospital several days later.

The Crown initially pursued a manslaughter charge based on transferred intent but later withdrew this charge after the pathologist's testimony.

The court found the accused guilty of assault causing bodily harm against his aunt and unlawfully causing bodily harm against his mother, rejecting defences of consensual fight, self-defence, and defence of property.

The accused, E.G.F., was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury.

The sentencing judge considered the aggravating factors, including the accused's criminal record for violence, the assault occurring in the victim's home, the continued assault despite the victim's resistance, the serious nature of the assault (vaginal ejaculation without a condom), the exploitation of the victim's trust and vulnerable state due to alcohol withdrawal, and the severe emotional, physical, and financial impact on the victim.

The only mitigating factor noted was the accused's supportive network of friends.

The court imposed a four-year penitentiary sentence, emphasizing denunciation and deterrence, and issued several ancillary orders.

The accused was charged with human trafficking and misrepresentation to immigration authorities under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The accused brought a third party records application seeking disclosure of Children's Aid Society records and police records relating to the complainant.

The court determined that the O'Connor regime applied to the CAS records and the Mills regime (section 278) applied to the police records.

The court denied production of the police records as the accused failed to establish they were likely relevant, relying solely on credibility arguments which are insufficient under section 278.3(4).

The court found the CAS records were likely relevant as they were compiled during a joint investigation that led to the charges, and ordered the second stage of the O'Connor test to proceed.

Robert Quinn was arrested on outstanding warrants, and police seized and searched his duffel bag, finding a loaded handgun.

Quinn challenged the warrantless search as a violation of his s.8 Charter rights, seeking exclusion of the evidence.

The court found the search was a lawful search incident to arrest, justified by officer and public safety concerns, particularly given prior information about Quinn's potential possession of a firearm and violent history.

Even if a Charter breach occurred, the court determined the evidence would not be excluded under s.24(2) due to the low seriousness of the infringement, Quinn's low expectation of privacy, and society's strong interest in adjudicating serious firearms offences.

The application to exclude evidence was dismissed.

The applicants, Aaron Kennedy and Sean McDermott, sought a stay of proceedings under s. 24(1) of the Charter, alleging a breach of their right to be tried within a reasonable time under s. 11(b).

The court applied both the R. v. Morin and the new R. v. Jordan frameworks for assessing delay.

While acknowledging significant Crown delay due to late disclosure, the court found that the total delay, after accounting for defence-attributable delays (such as Mr. McDermott's vacation choice), fell below the presumptive ceiling established in Jordan.

The court also considered the prejudice to the accused, noting Mr. Kennedy's continued detention, but ultimately dismissed both applications, finding no Charter breach.

Three inmates were charged with assault causing bodily harm to a fellow inmate at Maplehurst Correctional Centre on November 19, 2014.

The Crown sought to introduce video evidence of the assault with identification testimony from a correctional officer.

The court held a voir dire to determine the admissibility of the identification evidence under the Leaney test.

The court found that while the officer had prior acquaintance with the accused and was in a better position than the trier of fact to make identifications, the threshold reliability of the identification evidence was not established because the Crown relied on a Historical Unit Assignment document that was demonstrably inaccurate.

The document showed 35 inmates in a unit with a maximum capacity of 32, and showed inmates in cells where they were not actually housed.

Without reliable evidence of which inmates were assigned to which cells, the officer's identification methodology—tracking blurry figures back to assigned cells—could not meet the reliability threshold.

The charges were dismissed.

The defendant was convicted of two counts of possessing child pornography following a trial.

The court addressed the applicability of the Kienapple principle and imposed sentence.

The defendant, a 24-year-old security guard with no criminal record, had accumulated child pornography on his computer and external hard drive.

The material was discovered when a co-worker accessed the hard drive left at the workplace.

The court found that the Kienapple principle did not apply as the two offences had different factual and legal nexuses.

The court imposed a sentence of ten months incarceration on each count to be served concurrently, followed by three years probation, along with ancillary orders including a five-year prohibition order under section 161 of the Criminal Code, DNA order, and sex offender registration for life.

The defendant pleaded guilty to importing child pornography, making child pornography in Cuba, and multiple counts of sexual interference with children under 16 years of age in Cuba.

The court imposed a sentence of two years and one day plus a 10-year long-term offender designation.

The court found that the defendant posed a substantial risk of sexual re-offence and that there was a reasonable possibility of eventual control of risk in the community through the long-term offender regime.

The court rejected the defence submission for time served and a recognizance order, finding that such measures were inadequate given the severity of the offences and the defendant's demonstrated pattern of escalating sexual abuse of children over many years.

The accused pleaded guilty to four counts arising from an armed bank robbery committed on October 8, 2008: robbery while armed with an imitation firearm, disguise with intent, auto theft, and auto possession.

The Crown pursued a dangerous offender designation under section 753 of the Criminal Code.

The court found the accused met the criteria for dangerous offender status based on a pattern of repetitive armed robberies spanning from 1988 to 2008, demonstrating a failure to restrain his behaviour and a likelihood of inflicting severe psychological damage on others.

The court imposed a determinate sentence of 13 years imprisonment (with credit for approximately six years of pre-trial detention resulting in two years remaining) followed by a 10-year Long-Term Supervision Order, rather than an indeterminate sentence, based on positive developments in the accused's behaviour and mental health stabilization while in custody.