The accused brought an application under s. 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, seeking a stay of proceedings due to unreasonable delay in their first-degree murder and attempted murder trial.
The total delay from charge to anticipated trial end was 37.12 months (1129 days).
The court deducted 98 days for defence delay (preference for consecutive preliminary inquiry dates) and 11 days for judicial illness, resulting in a net delay of 33.53 months (1020 days), which exceeded the 30-month presumptive ceiling for Superior Court cases.
The Crown argued that the delay was justified by exceptional circumstances, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic and the complexity of the case.
The court found the case to be of moderate complexity and attributed 107 days (3.53 months) of the delay to the COVID-19 pandemic's systemic impact and backlog.
This brought the net delay down to 30 months, falling within the presumptive ceiling.
The court also found that the defence had not demonstrated meaningful and sustained efforts to expedite the proceedings.
Consequently, the application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed.
