Jocelyn Heaton

The respondent was convicted after a jury trial of assault by choking, assault causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement, and criminal harassment against the victim.

He was acquitted of uttering a threat to cause death.

The Crown sought judicial determination of facts for sentencing purposes and for a s. 752.1 assessment.

The respondent challenged the credibility and reliability of the victim's evidence on several material points, including who initiated contact, the frequency of meetings, and who informed the respondent of his mother's death.

The court conducted a thorough credibility assessment of both witnesses and made findings on the disputed facts, ultimately accepting the victim's evidence as more reliable and credible despite some inconsistencies.

This sentencing decision concerns two co-accused, Tafari Bezabeh and Justin Harker, convicted by a jury of attempt murder and first degree murder arising from two closely connected shootings in Toronto on June 19, 2022.

The court reviews the facts, aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the applicable case law, ultimately imposing life imprisonment for both offences, with no parole eligibility for 25 years on the murder count and a concurrent life sentence for attempt murder.

The decision emphasizes the need for denunciation and deterrence in the context of planned, public gun violence.

The Crown sought to admit evidence of extrinsic discreditable conduct, including cell phone images of the accused in possession of handguns and ammunition seized from a townhouse, in a murder and attempted murder trial.

The court applied the `Handy` test, admitting the cell phone images and ammunition due to their high probative value regarding identity, party liability, and planning, which outweighed their prejudicial effect.

However, the court excluded the admission of two specific handguns seized from the townhouse, as they were not the murder weapons and their probative value was minimal compared to the already admitted evidence and potential for prejudice.

The accused, Tafari Bezabeh, brought a pre-trial motion under s. 8 of the Charter of Rights, challenging the facial sufficiency of two search warrants for a London, Ontario residence and a car.

The warrants were executed nearly three weeks after two Toronto shootings for which the accused was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

The applicant argued that the warrants lacked reasonable grounds, contending that the residence was merely transitory and that the evidence would be stale due to the elapsed time.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that reasonable inferences supported the belief that relevant evidence would still be present at the rental residence, and that the standard for issuing a search warrant (reasonable and probable grounds) does not require the exclusion of alternative exculpatory inferences or proof on a balance of probabilities.

The Crown sought to admit a video-recorded statement made by the accused, Jennifer Sacobie, to police.

The defence argued the statement was involuntary and obtained in violation of Sacobie's s. 10(b) Charter right to counsel.

The court found that while the statement was voluntary, the police had seriously breached Sacobie's Charter rights by failing to inform her of her right to counsel upon detention and by continuing to question her despite her repeated requests for a lawyer.

The court further found that no "fresh start" occurred to sever the link between the Charter breach and the subsequent statement.

Applying the Grant factors, the court concluded that admitting the statement would bring the administration of justice into disrepute, and therefore excluded it.