The accused faced five charges under the Criminal Code and two charges under the Youth Criminal Justice Act for historical allegations of assault, unlawful confinement, and sexual assault with a weapon spanning from 1995 to 1999.
The charges were laid in January 2011 but the trial was not scheduled to commence until April 2014, resulting in a delay of approximately 39 months.
The accused brought a motion for a stay of proceedings based on a violation of his Charter right under section 11(b) to be tried within a reasonable time.
The court found that 21.75 months of the delay was attributable to Crown, institutional, and other causes and was unreasonable, exceeding the guideline of 14 to 18 months for a two-stage process.
The court inferred prejudice from the length of delay and found that the accused had demonstrated a desire to resolve the matter expeditiously.
The court granted the stay of proceedings.