Jennifer Epstein

The appellant appealed his convictions for sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching against a 14-year-old complainant.

The appellant argued the trial judge erred by failing to disclose the second part of a jury note asking for a rest day, failing to give a cross-count reasoning instruction, and failing to give a prior consistent statement instruction.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the trial judge's handling of the jury note, which did not indicate rushed deliberations or prejudice.

The court also found that the additional jury instructions were not necessary, as there was no risk of cross-count reasoning and the Crown did not rely on prior consistent statements to bolster credibility.

The moving party sought leave to appeal a decision reversing a stay of proceedings for unreasonable delay under s. 11(b) of the Charter.

The appeal judge had deducted 15 months of pandemic-related administrative adjournments and nearly 3 months of delay caused by an administrative mailing error as exceptional circumstances, bringing the net delay below the 18-month ceiling.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the motion for leave, finding that the pandemic delay issue was already settled law and the administrative error did not raise a question of law alone or a failure of natural justice.