Craig Zeeh

Jayme Syring pleaded guilty to four counts of impaired care or control causing bodily harm and one count of failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

The offences stemmed from a single-vehicle rollover where Syring, impaired by alcohol, injured his common-law spouse and her three young children, who were not properly secured, and then fled the scene.

The court considered aggravating factors including the serious nature of the offences, the abandonment of injured victims, Syring's lengthy criminal record, and his substance abuse issues.

Mitigating factors included his guilty plea, remorse, and initial steps towards addressing his addiction.

The court emphasized denunciation and deterrence as primary sentencing objectives for drinking and driving offences causing bodily harm.

A penitentiary sentence of two years and two months was imposed after credit for pre-sentence custody, along with a three-year driving prohibition and a DNA order.

The accused, Richard Bennett, sought to introduce alternate suspect evidence in his first-degree murder trial.

The application concerned four individuals: Jason Bynoe, Nathanial Gibbs, Shaka Reid, and John Gardner.

The court dismissed the application regarding Bynoe and Gibbs due to insufficient connection to the crime, primarily relying on propensity evidence without sufficient opportunity or direct link.

However, the court granted the application in part, allowing the introduction of alternate suspect evidence for Shaka Reid and John Gardner, finding sufficient probative value based on the accused's own statements implicating Reid and Gardner's inconsistent statements, suspicious conduct, and unpublicized knowledge of crime details.

The court rejected the Crown's "additional suspect" argument, affirming that such evidence could address the accused's level of culpability.

The applicant, charged with first-degree murder, sought production of third-party police records from the Toronto Police Service concerning five individuals for an alternate suspects application.

The Crown opposed, arguing a lack of likely relevance.

The court applied the two-stage O'Connor test, finding the applicant met the threshold for likely relevance.

After an in camera inspection, the court ordered the production of relevant and redacted excerpts from two police occurrence reports related to two of the five individuals, subject to strict conditions, while denying production for the others.

The Crown sought to admit evidence of a violent rivalry between two criminal groups, the Asian Assassinz and the Chin Pac, to establish motive and intention in a first-degree murder trial.

The respondent, alleged to be associated with the Chin Pac, was charged with the murder of an individual associated with the Asian Assassinz.

The defence opposed the admission of this evidence, citing prejudicial impact and lack of probative value.

The court ruled the evidence admissible, finding its probative value on motive and intention outweighed its prejudicial effect, provided appropriate limiting instructions were given to the jury.