E. Levy

The accused pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing the death of a two-year-old child who was left in a hot vehicle at an unlicensed daycare facility.

The accused operated an illegal daycare with 35 children, seven times the legal capacity, despite a prior warning from the Ministry of Education.

The child died of hyperthermia after being forgotten in the vehicle for several hours.

The accused misrepresented the cause of death to emergency responders and parents, and evidence was subsequently destroyed.

The court imposed a custodial sentence of 22 months followed by three years probation with strict conditions.

At a preliminary hearing into the death of a two-year-old child at a day care, the Crown sought to admit two statements from a witness without calling her to testify in person, citing her medical inability to attend court.

The defence opposed admission and sought an order requiring the witness to attend for cross-examination.

The court admitted both statements under section 540(7) of the Criminal Code, finding them credible and trustworthy, but declined to order the witness's attendance under section 540(9), balancing the accused's interest in cross-examination against the witness's medical circumstances and the ancillary nature of the evidence to the charges.

The defendant was charged with sexual assault following events that occurred on July 1, 2016.

The complainant and defendant met at a sports bar and subsequently engaged in consensual sexual activity at the defendant's university residence, including oral sex and digital penetration.

The complainant alleged that after this consensual activity, the defendant initiated three separate instances of vaginal intercourse without her consent while she was asleep or attempting to sleep.

The defendant's position was that all sexual intercourse was consensual.

The trial judge found the complainant credible and rejected the defendant's evidence, finding that the defendant initiated sexual intercourse without obtaining consent and that the complainant had clearly expressed her lack of consent by words and gesture.