Donald Laurence Pearson Pyper

The accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter arising from a spontaneous altercation outside a Toronto pub in which an unarmed victim died from a single stab wound to the neck.

The parties jointly proposed a five-year penitentiary sentence but disputed whether additional credit should be granted for harsh pre-sentence custody conditions, including lockdowns, triple-bunking, and inadequate medical treatment.

The court accepted that the detention conditions were deplorable and that the accused was denied adequate care for a wrist injury, but held that a further sentence reduction beyond standard Summers credit would render the sentence unfit and underweight denunciation and deterrence.

A five-year sentence was imposed with 566 days of pre-sentence credit, along with DNA and weapons prohibition orders.

This sentencing decision addresses the serious offences committed by Abdisatar Aden, who pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm endangering life, aggravated assault, possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, and possession contrary to a prohibition order.

The case involved a shooting of an 18-year-old victim, Amadou Suwareh, who suffered life-threatening injuries but survived.

The decision carefully balances aggravating factors such as the use of a modified fully automatic firearm, prior weapons prohibition orders, and possession of crack cocaine for trafficking, against mitigating factors including an early guilty plea, social context evidence of systemic racism and disadvantage, and the offender’s remorse and family support.

The court imposed a global sentence of 10 years, with credit for pre-sentence custody, reflecting the gravity of the offences and the need for denunciation and deterrence in the context of ongoing gun violence in Toronto.

Sean Rosenthal, charged with impaired driving, brought multiple motions seeking a stay of proceedings due to unreasonable delay under s. 11(b) of the Charter and a declaration that the Information was a nullity due to breaches of s. 505 and s. 485 of the Criminal Code, arguing violations of his s. 7 and 11(d) Charter rights.

The court dismissed all motions, finding that the net delay was below the Jordan ceiling and that the procedural errors in laying the Information did not invalidate it or result in a loss of jurisdiction over the offence, nor did they constitute Charter violations or an abuse of process.

The accused was charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and having a blood alcohol concentration equal to or exceeding 80 mg per 100 ml of blood within two hours of operating a motor vehicle, arising from erratic driving on Bathurst Street.

The Crown called civilian witnesses and police officers.

The accused challenged identification as the driver, the sufficiency of evidence of impairment, and raised multiple Charter violations.

The court found the accused was the driver beyond a reasonable doubt and that his breath readings exceeded the legal limit.

However, the court found insufficient evidence of impairment without expert evidence relating breath readings to impairment.

All Charter applications were dismissed.

The accused was convicted on the over-80 count and acquitted on the impaired count.

The court ruled on the admissibility of foreign court documents (a Special Criminal Application from the High Court of Gujarat) during a criminal trial.

The defendant sought to introduce the documents through section 23 of the Canada Evidence Act and the principled exception to hearsay.

The court found that the statutory notice requirement under section 23 was not met and declined to exercise discretion to waive it.

The court also found that neither necessity nor reliability had been established under the principled exception to hearsay.

However, the court permitted the documents to be used for cross-examination purposes only, with the limitation that if the witness denies or refutes the contents, the defendant cannot use the document as proof of its contents to impeach the witness.

The offender was convicted of sexual assault and sexual interference against a child victim.

The Crown sought nine months imprisonment followed by two years probation, while the defence argued for a 90-day intermittent sentence.

The court imposed a nine-month custodial sentence, finding that the offence involved multiple incidents of invasive sexual touching, a serious breach of trust, and had a devastating impact on the victim.

The court rejected the defence argument that the offender's age and health concerns justified a sentence at the mandatory minimum level, holding that such a sentence would be disproportionate and fail to adequately reflect the principles of deterrence and denunciation required for offences against children.

The defendant was charged with care or control of a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol and care or control of a motor vehicle with excess blood alcohol concentration (over 80).

The Crown alleged the defendant was found lying in the roadway at 4:16 a.m., subsequently entered his vehicle which was running, and exhibited signs of impairment.

The defendant challenged the lawfulness of his arrest and the admissibility of breath test results on Charter grounds, alleging violations of sections 8, 9, and 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The court found the arrest was lawful based on reasonable and probable grounds, any Charter violations were technical and cured, and the Crown proved both charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

The appellant sought a stay of a default order requiring payment of spousal support arrears and ongoing support, or incarceration, pending an appeal.

The motion for a stay was brought under the three-part RJR-McDonald test.

The appellant argued that his s. 35 Constitution Act, 1982 rights were infringed by Justice Malcolm's failure to order a Gladue report at the default hearing.

The court found no serious question to be tried, no irreparable harm, and that the support recipient would suffer greater harm if the stay were granted.

The motion to stay was denied.