J. Erickson

The offender was found guilty by a jury of one count of sexual assault.

The sentencing judge found the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offender administered THC to the victim to render her compliant.

After weighing the aggravating factors, including the presence of the victim's young child, against the offender's positive rehabilitation prospects, the court rejected a conditional sentence.

Emphasizing denunciation and deterrence, the court sentenced the offender to 18 months' incarceration along with ancillary orders.

The applicant brought an application for a stay of proceedings, arguing his s. 11(b) Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time was infringed.

The total delay from charge to the anticipated end of trial was 47 months.

After deducting defence-caused delay and delay attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the court recognized as a discrete exceptional circumstance, the net delay was calculated at 26 months.

As this fell below the 30-month presumptive ceiling for superior court cases, and the defence failed to show a sustained effort to expedite the proceedings, the application was dismissed.

The applicant and his co-accused were jointly charged with firearms offences after a search warrant was executed at an apartment.

The applicant brought an application to sever his trial from his co-accused, arguing that a joint trial would prevent him from adducing bad character evidence about the co-accused to raise a reasonable doubt about his own guilt.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the proposed evidence was inadmissible propensity and hearsay evidence.

The court applied the factors for severance and concluded that the strong factual and legal nexus, risk of inconsistent verdicts, and judicial economy strongly favoured a joint trial.