John D. Fitzmaurice

The Court of Appeal for Ontario allowed the appeal of P.P. from convictions for assault, sexual assault, uttering threats, unlawful confinement, and attempted extortion, setting aside the convictions and ordering a new trial.

The court found that the trial judge made errors by relying on unsupported assumptions about arranged marriages, improperly relying on an evidentiary fact without giving counsel an opportunity to make submissions, and drawing conclusions based on government COVID protocols without evidentiary foundation.

These errors rendered the convictions unsafe.

The appellant appealed his convictions for attempted murder, arguing that the trial judge erred in assessing the mens rea required for attempted murder by wrongly attributing the actions of other shooters to him, and that the verdicts on four of the five convictions were unreasonable.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the trial judge's consideration of the appellant's specific intent.

The court held that the evidence amply supported the findings that this was a pre-planned, deliberate attack by shooters working in concert, and that the only reasonable inference was that all shooters had the specific intent to kill the victims.

The appellant, Clifton Vassel, appealed his conviction for first-degree murder, arguing that the verdict was unreasonable regarding planning and deliberation, and that the jury instructions on this element were flawed.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude planning and deliberation, and that the trial judge's instructions adequately outlined the relevant evidence, even if not exhaustive.

The appellant, David Norris, appealed his indeterminate sentence as a dangerous offender, arguing the sentencing judge erred in reversing the onus of proof, misapprehending psychiatric evidence, and misusing Correctional Services Canada evidence.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the sentencing judge applied the correct legal framework despite a misstatement on onus, properly considered the psychiatric evidence, and appropriately relied on the Correctional Services Canada evidence regarding supervision differences.

The defendant, Adil Zeno, brought a Charter application to exclude video evidence from a cell phone, alleging breaches of his rights under sections 8, 9, and 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The court found that while there was a breach of the defendant's section 10(b) right to counsel due to an unreasonable delay, and accepted for the purpose of the application that there was a section 8 breach related to the search warrant for the cell phone, these breaches were not serious enough to warrant exclusion of the evidence under section 24(2) of the Charter.

The court found the police acted in good faith, and the evidence was reliable and relevant to the Crown's case.

The application to exclude evidence was denied.

Adil Zeno, convicted of accessory after the fact to murder, brought a post-verdict application for a stay of proceedings under ss. 7 and 24(1) of the Charter, alleging abuse of process by the Crown.

The alleged abuse primarily related to a separate murder prosecution and the Crown's position on bail.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the alleged misconduct was not related to the current proceeding and that alternative remedies, such as seeking damages in the other proceeding, were available.

The court emphasized that a stay of proceedings is a drastic remedy reserved for the 'clearest of cases' and that impugned conduct must be related to the proceeding before the court.

The accused was charged with 10 criminal offences including 8 counts of fraud over $5,000, 1 count of possession over $5,000, and 1 count of mail theft, arising from allegations that he fraudulently cashed corporate cheques between October 31, 2011 and December 28, 2011.

During trial, the court ruled on the admissibility of evidence regarding ATM machine locations and ATM surveillance video photographs.

The court admitted Ms. Jaramy's testimony regarding ATM locations as an exception to the hearsay rule, finding the banks' central listing of ATM locations satisfied reliability and necessity requirements.

The court also admitted ATM surveillance video photographs as admissible under section 29 of the Canada Evidence Act.

The accused was charged with three drug-related offences (possession of marijuana, possession for purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime) and three provincial offences (assaulting a peace officer and two counts of failing to comply with recognizance).

During a traffic stop for a seatbelt violation, a police officer observed the accused with his hand in his jacket pocket and smelled unburned marijuana.

The officer placed his hand on the accused and pushed him back into the vehicle, then subsequently pulled him out to effect an arrest.

A physical altercation ensued.

The trial judge found that the officer lacked reasonable grounds to arrest, violated the accused's Charter rights against unreasonable search and seizure, and used excessive force.

The evidence was excluded under section 24(2) of the Charter.