Dr. O'Brien

The defendant brought a refusals motion in a personal injury action arising from a 2017 motor vehicle accident.

The plaintiff had refused to answer questions or produce records relating to a prior 2003 motor vehicle accident, arguing he had fully recovered and returned to work years before the 2017 accident.

The court held that the 2003 accident and its consequences were relevant to assessing whether the plaintiff was a thin-skull or crumbling-skull plaintiff, and ordered the plaintiff to answer the refused questions.

The applicant physician sought judicial review of a decision by the College's Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee ordering a clinical caution and preceptorship.

The applicant argued the College lacked statutory authority and breached procedural fairness by initiating a broader investigation into his practice before resolving an initial patient complaint.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the College had the authority to initiate the investigation based on reasonable and probable grounds, the request for OHIP records was relevant, and the disposition addressing both record-keeping and clinical concerns was reasonable.

The appellant appealed his convictions and sentence of 15 years and 3 months' imprisonment followed by a 10-year supervision order for severe, long-term domestic abuse.

The amicus curiae conceded there were no arguable grounds for the conviction appeal.

On the sentence appeal, the amicus argued the trial judge failed to adequately consider the appellant's age and progressive dementia.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, noting expert evidence that the appellant posed a moderate to high risk to re-offend and that his dementia might stabilize with treatment.

The court agreed with the trial judge's characterization of the offences as the worst case of domestic abuse short of murder, concluding the sentence was fit.