The accused sought an adjournment of a sexual assault trial to pursue a third party records application for the clinical files of a psychiatrist who had previously testified that the complainant was medically unable to testify due to severe PTSD and suicide risk.
The court considered the balancing of the accused’s right to make full answer and defence against the need for timely trial management.
The defence had possessed an updated psychiatric report for approximately ten months but did not pursue the records until days before the scheduled trial.
The court found the request untimely and characterized the proposed third party records application as a speculative fishing expedition unlikely to meet the threshold of likely relevance under the Criminal Code.
Given the extensive procedural history and prior adjournments, the interests of justice favoured proceeding with the trial.
