The accused brought a motion for a stay of proceedings based on an alleged violation of the right to be tried within a reasonable period of time under s. 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The court found that the total delay of 17.5 months, when reduced to account for neutral intake and institutional delay, resulted in 12.5 months of attributable delay—exceeding the Morin guidelines by 2.5 months.
The Crown was responsible for 3.5 months of unreasonable delay in providing essential disclosure, particularly the Information to Obtain (ITO) for the search warrant.
The court found that the accused suffered both inherent prejudice and real prejudice, including disruption to family court proceedings regarding custody and access to his children.
The court granted the stay of proceedings.
