C. Villacci

The defendant, Shakara Walker, faced charges of publishing a defamatory libel and criminal harassment following a contentious separation and dispute over shared property with the complainant.

The Crown stayed the defamatory libel charge.

The court dismissed the criminal harassment charge, finding that while the defendant's social media posts and actions were immature and petty, they did not meet the legal threshold for criminal harassment, nor did they cause the complainant to reasonably fear for his physical or psychological safety.

The defendant, George Andrews, was charged with five counts, including assault with a weapon (motor vehicle), dangerous operation of a conveyance, mischief over $5,000, and two counts of failing to comply with a release order.

The Crown sought to prove identity through a Nikolovski application, relying on surveillance video and the defendant's tattoos.

The defence argued against compelling the defendant to expose tattoos for identification, citing R. v. Zhou.

The court ruled that it was entitled to observe the defendant's already exposed facial tattoo for identification purposes, distinguishing the case from situations requiring disrobing.

The judge found the facial tattoo matched the video evidence and concluded that the defendant was the culprit, also finding intent for the assault.

The defendant was found guilty on all five charges.