The accused brought a section 11(b) Charter application seeking a stay of proceedings based on an alleged infringement of his right to trial within a reasonable time.
The information was sworn on August 16, 2017, and the trial was scheduled to conclude on June 20, 2019, totaling 673 days.
The court applied the framework established in R. v. Jordan and R. v. Cody to determine whether the delay exceeded the 18-month presumptive ceiling.
The court identified two key issues: whether delay in retaining counsel constituted defence delay, and whether delays caused by three audits of interpreter translations constituted exceptional circumstances.
The court found that 89 days of defence delay should be deducted for the period when the accused switched between Legal Aid and private counsel retention.
The court also found that all delays caused by the three interpreter audits (totaling 99 days) constituted discrete exceptional events that could not be reasonably mitigated by the Crown or justice system.
After deducting 188 days total, the net delay fell below 18 months, and the application was dismissed.
