Gary T. Trotter

The appellant was convicted of two counts of sexual assault against female massage clients at his massage and yoga studio.

He appealed his convictions on multiple grounds, including that the application judge failed to provide reasons for refusing his severance application, that the trial judge applied uneven scrutiny to the evidence, and that the trial judge erred in relying on the complainant's immediate report to police.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial solely on the basis that the application judge's failure to provide reasons for refusing severance frustrated meaningful appellate review, particularly given the intertwined issues of severance and similar fact evidence.

The appellants challenged the trial judge's interpretation of a contractual term, his factual finding regarding waiver of the time limit for performance, and his damages award.

The Court of Appeal applied the deferential standard of review established in Sattva Capital Corp. v. Creston Moly Corp. and found that the trial judge's interpretation of the poorly drafted contractual clause was reasonable and that there were no palpable and overriding errors in the factual findings.

The award of reliance damages was also found to be reasonable.

The appeal was dismissed with costs to the respondent.

The appellant appealed a trial judgment in a motor vehicle accident case, alleging various trial errors constituted a miscarriage of justice, including leading questions by plaintiff's counsel, mention of independent medical examinations, discussion between counsel and plaintiff after cross-examination, mention of insurance, admission of opinion evidence from a body shop manager regarding vehicle speed, and the trial judge's charge excluding a zero award of general damages.

The appellant also sought leave to appeal the costs award, alleging the trial judge failed to give sufficient weight to proportionality.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both the appeal and the leave to appeal on costs, finding no error in the trial judge's handling of the trial events or costs decision.

The moving party sought review of a single judge’s refusal to extend the time to file a notice of motion for leave to appeal from the Divisional Court’s dismissal of an application for judicial review of a social benefits tribunal decision.

The Court of Appeal applied the leave to appeal framework from Sault Dock Co. v. Sault St. Marie (City).

It held that the proposed appeal did not raise a question of law or an issue of public importance and was of interest only to the parties.

Because the proposed appeal lacked merit, the interests of justice did not support granting an extension of time.

The motion was dismissed without costs.

The appellant was convicted by jury of robbery, disguise with intent, dangerous driving, and failure to stop arising from a bank robbery.

The sole issue at trial was identity—whether the appellant or his brother committed the robbery.

A police officer identified the appellant from a photo lineup.

The trial judge designated the appellant a dangerous offender and imposed an indeterminate sentence.

The appellant appealed both conviction and sentence on three grounds regarding the conviction: eyewitness identification instructions, police officer reliability, and Crown opening address prejudice.

On sentence, the appellant challenged the dangerous offender designation and the indeterminate sentence.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both appeals.

A neighbour who provided assistance to an elderly woman for nearly 15 years sought to enforce a $100,000 cheque given to him by the woman shortly before her death.

The woman had also made a bequest of $100,000 to the neighbour in her will.

The cheque was returned by the bank due to insufficient funds in the account, and the woman died before the shortfall could be remedied.

The court held that a gift by cheque is not complete until the cheque is cashed or has cleared.

Since the woman lacked sufficient funds in her account and died before the cheque could be presented for payment, the gift failed for lack of delivery.

The court also rejected arguments based on the Bills of Exchange Act, estoppel by convention, and equitable principles.

The appellants successfully appealed orders from the Superior Court of Justice that had reinstated a default judgment and permitted the sale of certain property.

The appeal was allowed because the respondent failed to make full and fair disclosure of material facts concerning the appellants' alleged default and participation in the action when attending before the court without notice to the appellants.

The appellants were self-represented throughout most of the proceedings and only retained counsel a few months before the appeal was argued.

The court awarded costs to the appellants on a partial indemnity basis, finding their claim for substantial or full indemnity costs to have no basis and their partial indemnity claim to be excessive and disproportionate.

A tenant operating a dry cleaning business appealed a summary judgment dismissing his claim for wrongful termination of his commercial lease.

The landlord had terminated the tenancy based on the tenant's failure to complete a government-approved training course in the management of contaminants and wastes, as required by regulation and the lease.

The Court of Appeal found that the landlord failed to comply with the strict notice requirements under the Commercial Tenancies Act by not identifying the specific breach in the termination notice.

The court also found that the tenant had presented uncontradicted evidence that the required course was unavailable and that the Ministry of the Environment had inspected the premises, suggesting the tenant may have satisfied the regulatory requirements through alternative means.

The appeal was allowed, the summary judgment was set aside, and the matter was remitted for assessment of damages.

The appellant was convicted of 28 counts of fraud over $5,000 in connection with a Ponzi scheme involving three accused persons and losses exceeding $2,000,000.

He appealed his convictions and sentence on grounds of delay contrary to s. 11(b) of the Charter and alleged errors in the trial judge's jury instructions.

The appeal was dismissed.

The Court of Appeal found that while the total delay of 59½ months exceeded the presumptive ceiling under the Jordan framework, it was justified by defence delay, discrete events (including the co-accused's illness), case complexity, and the transitional exceptional circumstance based on the parties' reasonable reliance on the Morin framework.

The jury instructions were found to be fair and balanced when reviewed as a whole.

The appellant was convicted of multiple sexual offences against his girlfriend's daughter and four of her friends, all primary school girls aged 10-12 at the time of disclosure.

The appellant appealed on the grounds that the trial judge erred in allowing similar fact evidence by failing to properly apply the burden of proof regarding unintentional collusion between the victims.

The Court of Appeal found that while the trial judge erred in not subjecting unconscious collusion to the same evidentiary burden as actual collusion, the error was harmless and did not occasion a substantial wrong or miscarriage of justice.

The appeal was dismissed.

An appeal from an Ontario Review Board disposition ordering that the appellant remain subject to a conditional discharge.

The appellant, a 62-year-old woman with schizophrenia, was found not criminally responsible for assaulting a five-year-old child in 2011.

The Board concluded she remained a significant threat to public safety based on her history of non-compliance with medication and the risk of decompensation if she ceased treatment.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding the Board's conclusion unreasonable and speculative.

The court held that the evidence did not meet the onerous standard required under section 672.54 of the Criminal Code for maintaining restraints on an NCR accused's liberty, and ordered an absolute discharge.

The appellant was convicted of two counts of fraud over $5,000 relating to small business loans obtained under Industry Canada's Small Business Loan Program.

The loans were fraudulently obtained for purposes other than those specified in the program requirements.

The sole issue at trial was whether the appellant, a professional loan broker, knowingly participated in the frauds.

The trial judge found the appellant guilty on both counts and imposed a 90-day intermittent sentence on the first count followed by a consecutive 12-month conditional sentence on the second count.

The appellant appealed both conviction and sentence, raising arguments regarding misapprehension of evidence, credibility analysis, and burden of proof, as well as seeking leave to appeal the sentence on parity grounds.

The appellant sought leave to appeal a decision of the Summary Conviction Appeal Court that set aside his acquittal on a charge of driving while over 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

The trial judge had found a breach of section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and excluded evidence obtained by police.

The appellate court refused leave to appeal, finding that the real issue involved the application of settled Charter jurisprudence to the specific facts and did not have significance to the administration of justice beyond the case itself.

The appellant appealed his dangerous offender designation and indeterminate sentence imposed following his conviction for intimidation, criminal harassment, and two counts of assault.

The appellant did not challenge the validity of the dangerous offender designation but contested the trial judge's decision to impose an indeterminate sentence rather than a long-term supervision order.

The appellant raised four grounds of appeal: misapprehension of evidence regarding treatment refusal, misapprehension of evidence regarding burnout in aging offenders, application of the wrong test for manageability in the community, and an unfair burden placed on the defence to demonstrate immediately available resources.

The appellate court dismissed all grounds of appeal and upheld the indeterminate sentence.

The appellant was convicted of sexual assault and sexual interference against a 13-year-old victim.

The main ground of appeal concerned the admissibility of a partial recording of a telephone call between the appellant and the victim's mother, in which the appellant apologized and appeared to be crying.

The appellant also challenged the admission of incomplete text messages.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's evidentiary rulings, finding that the victim's mother's testimony provided sufficient context for the recorded statement and that the trial judge properly instructed the jury regarding the incomplete text messages.

An NCR accused appealed a disposition of the Ontario Review Board that found him to be a significant threat to public safety and ordered his continued detention with community living privileges.

The appellant, a 37-year-old with bipolar disorder and a lengthy criminal history, sought an absolute discharge.

The Board's majority relied on evidence that the appellant's marijuana use was potentially linked to hypomanic symptoms and could lead to a full manic episode, during which he might pose a risk of violent behavior.

The Court of Appeal found the Board's conclusion unreasonable, noting that despite a substantial risk of substance abuse and reoffending, the appellant had not committed an act of violence since 2004 and the Board's concerns were speculative and insufficiently grounded in evidence to meet the high threshold for "significant threat to public safety."

The appellant appealed his conviction for sexual assault, arguing that the loss of a video recording of the complainant's statement violated his fair trial rights.

The Court of Appeal held that the trial judge's finding of no unacceptable negligence was reasonable and that the loss of the recording was not so prejudicial as to impair the appellant's fair trial rights.

The court found that contemporaneous and detailed police notes provided a sufficient substitute for the lost recording, and that the defence failed to demonstrate actual prejudice.

The appellant appealed his conviction for sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, and sexual assault against a minor.

The trial judge stayed the sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching counts pursuant to Kienapple v. R. The appellant raised two grounds of appeal: first, that the trial judge failed to resolve a critical inconsistency in the complainant's evidence regarding an alleged oral sex incident that was never repeated in subsequent statements or testimony; and second, that the trial judge failed to consider innocent explanations for the complainant's knowledge of sexual acts.

The majority dismissed the appeal, finding the inconsistency was not a live issue at trial and that the core allegations remained consistent.

Justice Trotter dissented, finding the inconsistency was significant and that the trial judge's failure to address it constituted reversible error.

An appeal from a Superior Court decision dismissing an appeal from a Consent and Capacity Board decision confirming the appellant's involuntary status under the Mental Health Act.

The appellant, a dangerous offender with a lengthy history of violent and sexual crimes, challenged his detention as an involuntary psychiatric patient, arguing that the Mental Health Act was being used to extend his prison sentence indefinitely (psychiatric gating) and that his Charter rights were violated.

The Court of Appeal upheld the Board's decision, finding that the appellant suffers from mental disorders (paraphilia, antisocial personality disorder with psychopathy) that pose a serious risk to others, that the initial Form 1 was properly completed, and that the appellant's Charter claims under sections 7, 9, 11(h), and 12 all failed.

An appeal from an Ontario Review Board disposition ordering detention of a dual-status offender at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care.

The appellant, found not criminally responsible in 2010 for assault on a minor, was convicted in 2015 of assault causing bodily harm on a nurse at a secure forensic hospital and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and three years' probation.

The Board ordered the appellant serve the remainder of his sentence in a hospital at Waypoint.

The appellant challenged the disposition on multiple grounds, including failure to require testimony from the CECC psychiatrist, failure to require testimony from the Minister, failure to hold a review hearing as soon as practicable, presumption of illness rather than wellness, errors of fact, and failure to explain why detention at Waypoint was the least restrictive disposition.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the Board's disposition reasonable.