Gina Igbokwe

Jermaine Simpson pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, robbery, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon stemming from two separate incidents, including a violent home invasion.

The Crown sought a long-term offender designation and a 10.5-year global sentence with a 10-year Long-term Supervision Order (LTSO).

The accused conceded the LTO designation but sought a 5-year sentence (no further imprisonment) and a 7-year LTSO.

The court designated Simpson a long-term offender, imposed a global sentence of 7 years' imprisonment (resulting in 22 months further incarceration after credit for pre-sentence custody), and ordered a 10-year LTSO, along with a lifetime weapons prohibition and DNA order.

The court considered aggravating factors such as the home invasion, presence of a child, serious victim injuries, and the accused's record, balanced against mitigating factors including his guilty plea, mental health issues, and difficult childhood.

The appellant, Trevor Letlow, appealed his convictions for aggravated sexual assault, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault with a weapon, and unlawful confinement, as well as the indeterminate sentence imposed after being designated a dangerous offender.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both the conviction appeal, finding no error in the trial judge's assessment of the complainant's credibility despite a lack of independent corroboration for the sexual assault, and the sentence appeal, upholding the indeterminate sentence.

The court found the trial judge provided cogent reasons for rejecting expert opinion on age attenuation and concluding that no lesser measure could adequately protect the public.

The court ruled on a defence application for a mistrial and the probative value of after-the-fact conduct in an aggravated assault jury trial.

The defence sought a mistrial due to alleged improprieties in Crown counsel's closing address, specifically regarding the credibility of a Crown witness.

The defence also requested a "no probative value" instruction for the accused's flight and disposal of the firearm, arguing it was equally consistent with illegal firearm possession as with the aggravated assault.

The court dismissed the mistrial application, finding the Crown's comments on witness credibility, while concerning, could be remedied by jury instruction and did not impact the accused's credibility.

The court also denied the "no probative value" instruction for after-the-fact conduct, distinguishing the case from *R. v. Chambers* and finding the accused's flight disproportionate to the admitted firearm possession, thus allowing the jury to infer guilt regarding the shooting.

The accused, Nerville Ferdinand, was charged with aggravated assault.

During his jury trial, the Crown sought to advance an alternative theory of liability based on transferred intent, arguing that Ferdinand intended to shoot a third person ("Jimbo") but accidentally hit the victim, Tristan Kelly.

The defence objected, arguing there was no evidentiary basis for this theory.

The court applied the "air of reality" test for theories of liability, similar to that for defences, which requires a limited weighing of evidence to determine if a properly instructed jury could reasonably convict based on the theory.

The court found no direct evidence of intent to shoot Jimbo and concluded that the circumstantial evidence, even viewed most favorably to the Crown, did not reasonably support an inference of transferred intent, as it would require speculation and contradiction of witness testimony regarding aiming direction.

The Crown was therefore prohibited from advancing this alternative theory to the jury.