The accused sought a stay of proceedings under s. 24(1) of the Charter, alleging an infringement of his s. 11(b) right to be tried within a reasonable time.
The total delay from charge to anticipated trial completion was 37.4 months.
After deducting defence delay, the net delay was 33 months, exceeding the 30-month Jordan ceiling for Superior Court cases.
The Crown failed to rebut the presumption of unreasonableness by demonstrating exceptional circumstances or reasonable efforts to mitigate the delay.
The court found no specific link between the delay and the COVID-19 pandemic as argued by the Crown.
Consequently, the application was granted, and the charges were stayed.
