3 total
Accused found guilty of first degree murder after abducting and beating victim over drug debt.
The accused was charged with first degree murder following the abduction, severe beating, and death of the victim over a drug debt.
The accused conceded causing the death and forcible confinement, leaving the sole issue of whether he had the requisite intent for murder.
The court found that the accused's actions, including the brutal attack and leaving the victim in a remote, freezing field with severe injuries, demonstrated the requisite intent for murder.
The accused was found guilty of first degree murder.
Acquittal entered where the Crown failed to prove non-consent or incapacity.
In a sexual assault trial arising from a social encounter after the parties met online, the only issue was whether the complainant consented to the sexual activity and, if so, whether any apparent consent was vitiated by incapacity.
The court applied the two-step consent analysis from Hutchinson and assessed the conflicting evidence through the W.(D.) framework.
Although the court found the complainant credible in the sense of attempting to be truthful, it held her evidence was unreliable because of significant memory gaps, inconsistencies, and contradictions with contemporaneous text messages and other evidence.
Accepting the accused's evidence that the sexual activity was consensual and that the complainant retained capacity, the court found the Crown had not proven absence of consent or incapacity beyond a reasonable doubt and entered an acquittal.
Passport officer found guilty of breach of trust and forgery for facilitating fraudulent passport scheme.
The defendant, a Passport Canada officer, was charged with breach of trust, forgery, and related offences for her role in a scheme that enabled imposters to obtain genuine Canadian passports.
The Crown alleged she knowingly allowed applicants with counterfeit documents to bypass normal screening procedures and approved their applications.
The Superior Court of Justice found that the circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly established her knowing participation in the scheme.
The defendant was found guilty on all counts, with the court applying the doctrine of innocent agency to hold her liable as a principal for the forgery offences committed by other unwitting passport employees.
