Daniel Brandes

The accused was charged with sexual assault arising from a photography session with an 18‑year‑old aspiring model whom he had met on a social networking application.

The complainant alleged that after the photo session the accused initiated unwanted sexual contact and forcibly had intercourse despite her resistance and repeated requests to stop.

The accused denied that any sexual activity occurred and claimed the complainant attempted to kiss him and became angry when he rejected her.

Applying the credibility framework from R. v. W.(D.), the court rejected the accused’s evidence as implausible and accepted the complainant’s testimony as credible and reliable, noting her contemporaneous email to police reporting the assault.

The court concluded that the complainant did not consent and that the Crown proved the offence beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sentencing following convictions for aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace after an unprovoked knife attack on a subway passenger.

The court treated denunciation and deterrence as paramount given the public-transit setting, the concealed knife, and the offender's serious prior record for violent offences, while also weighing youth, a disrupted background, and significant mental health issues.

A four-year penitentiary sentence was found fit before credit, with enhanced pre-sentence custody credit reducing the balance to eight months, followed by three years' probation.

DNA and lifetime weapons prohibition orders were also imposed, and one count was conditionally stayed under Kienapple.

The accused was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and weapons offences following an unprovoked stabbing on a TTC subway train.

The identity of the assailant was established through circumstantial evidence, including videotape footage, clothing descriptions, and recognition by police officers who had investigated the accused earlier that day.

The court found the accused guilty of aggravated assault and the weapons offences, but acquitted him of attempted murder, finding the Crown failed to prove a specific intent to kill.