Fairburn A.C.J.O.

The Minister of Justice referred the appellant's 1990 second-degree murder conviction to the Court of Appeal after it was discovered that police failed to disclose an audio recording of an interview with an alternate suspect.

The Crown conceded the non-disclosure constituted a miscarriage of justice, requiring the conviction to be quashed.

The appellant sought an acquittal, arguing a police conspiracy to frame him and that his confession was false.

The Court of Appeal declined to enter an acquittal, finding that a properly instructed jury could still convict based on the appellant's voluntary confession and new DNA evidence linking him to the victim's clothing.

The Court ordered a new trial rather than a judicial stay of proceedings.

The appellant appealed a judgment dismissing an appeal from an arbitrator's decision in an insurance priority dispute.

The appellant argued the judge erred in finding the arbitrator owed no deference to the Licence Appeal Tribunal and in concluding the truck was involved in an accident.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the reasons for judgment and dismissed the appeal, awarding costs of $15,000 to the respondent.

The mother appealed an order returning her three-year-old child to Pakistan and recognizing a foreign divorce.

The motion judge had summarily determined, based solely on conflicting affidavit evidence, that the child was habitually resident in Pakistan and faced no serious risk of harm if returned.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that the mother was denied procedural fairness because the conflicting evidence regarding parental intention and domestic violence required a more robust evidentiary hearing.

The matter was remitted to the Superior Court for a proper evidentiary hearing.

The appellant appealed an order dismissing his cross-motion regarding the administration of his late father's estate.

He sought an extension of time to file an election under s. 6(1) of the Family Law Act on behalf of his incapable mother, arguing his father may have made a subsequent will disinheriting her.

The application judge found no evidence of a subsequent will and that an election was not in the mother's best interests.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the application judge's factual findings or costs award.

The appellant was convicted by a jury of importing cocaine and conspiracy to import cocaine after bricks of cocaine were found in an airport washroom.

A co-accused had previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge.

On appeal, the appellant argued the trial judge erred in instructing the jury that they must accept the existence of the conspiracy based on the co-accused's guilty plea, and by failing to provide a proper Carter instruction regarding the use of co-conspirators' acts and declarations.

The Court of Appeal agreed that both instructions were erroneous and rendered the trial unfair on the conspiracy count.

However, the Court applied the curative proviso to uphold the importing conviction, finding the evidence on that count overwhelming.

The conspiracy conviction was set aside and a new trial ordered.