Kathryn N.M. van Rensburg

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal of Aliamisse O. Mundulai from a final order in a family law dispute with Ying Huang.

The appeal concerned parenting, property, and financial issues following the parties' separation.

The court found no reversible error in the trial judge’s decisions regarding the child’s therapy, beneficial ownership of an office unit, and the treatment of the respondent’s pension for equalization purposes.

Costs were awarded to the respondent.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the Law Society of Ontario’s appeal regarding the respondent’s application for licensure as a paralegal.

The court found that the tribunals below properly considered the respondent’s criminal offence and professional misconduct, and that there was no error in their assessment of her rehabilitation and good character.

The appeal was dismissed with costs to the respondent.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed motions to reconsider its earlier refusal to grant leave to appeal two decisions related to an arbitral award and its enforcement.

Dr. Bokhari argued that the panel may have been unaware that a key precedent (Aroma) was under reserve at the time of the refusal.

The court held that the relevant rules did not permit reconsideration based on subsequent jurisprudence, only on new facts, and that the interests of justice did not favour reconsideration.

The motions were dismissed.

The appellant, William Gillen, appealed his convictions for trafficking fentanyl, possession of fentanyl and cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of proceeds of crime.

The appeal focused on the trial judge’s instructions to the jury, specifically whether the judge usurped the jury’s fact-finding role, encouraged propensity reasoning, or permitted the jury to use text messages for a prohibited purpose.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge’s instructions and dismissed the appeal.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario allowed Wesley James’s appeal in part, setting aside his convictions for possession for the purpose of trafficking fentanyl and crack cocaine due to Charter breaches and police misconduct, and entering acquittals on those charges.

The court found that the trial judge erred in the Grant analysis by failing to properly consider the seriousness and cumulative effect of the Charter breaches and police dishonesty, and by not conducting a final balancing of the Grant factors.

The conviction for trafficking crack cocaine was upheld as the verdict was not unreasonable on the evidence.

The appellant, Jerome Williams, appealed the Ontario Review Board’s decision ordering his continued detention in the High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs Division at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care.

Williams argued that he no longer posed a significant threat to public safety and sought an absolute discharge, or alternatively, a transfer to a medium secure facility.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal, finding that the Board’s assessment of risk and the necessity of continued detention at Waypoint were reasonable and supported by the evidence, particularly in light of ongoing concerns about medication compliance and substance use.

The appellant appealed her convictions for fraud, uttering forged documents, and breach of probation arising from the purchase of jewellery using fraudulent cheques.

On appeal, she sought to introduce a bank statement as fresh evidence to show she believed she had sufficient funds.

The Court of Appeal declined to admit the fresh evidence, finding it was not genuine based on a sworn statement from a bank investigator.

The Court also rejected the appellant's argument that the trial judge failed to conduct a proper analysis of the circumstantial evidence regarding her mental state, concluding the evidence of her fraudulent intent was overwhelming.

The conviction appeal was dismissed, and the sentence appeal was dismissed as abandoned.

Following an appeal that was allowed in part with divided success, the parties made written submissions regarding costs in the court below.

The appellants sought to set aside a $20,000 costs award against them, while the respondent argued the costs order should remain.

The Court of Appeal held that the divided success on appeal informed the appropriate disposition of costs below.

The court set aside the $20,000 costs award and ordered no costs of the motion in the court below.

The appellant, an inmate, pleaded guilty to intimidating a justice system participant and uttering threats.

On appeal, he sought to strike his guilty pleas due to procedural irregularities, including a failure to properly arraign him on one count, the failure to apply the Kienapple principle to stay the threatening count, and an insufficient plea inquiry.

The Court of Appeal admitted fresh evidence indicating the appellant was unmedicated and influenced by correctional officers to plead guilty to secure a federal transfer.

The Court allowed the appeal, struck the guilty pleas, and ordered a new trial, finding that maintaining the pleas risked a miscarriage of justice.

The appellant was convicted of robbery following a home invasion and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

On appeal, he argued the trial judge erred by relying on the rejected testimony of a co-accused and failing to caution himself about unsavoury witness evidence.

He also sought to introduce fresh DNA evidence and appealed his sentence based on the parity principle.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals and the fresh evidence motion, finding no error in the trial judge's assessment of the circumstantial evidence or the differing sentences imposed on the co-accused based on their respective moral culpability.

The appellant appealed his conviction for historical indecent assault against his stepson, arguing the trial judge engaged in uneven scrutiny of the evidence and provided insufficient reasons regarding the reliability of the complainant's evidence.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's assessment of the evidence, including the rejection of the appellant's exculpatory explanations.

The court also held that the trial judge's reasons sufficiently addressed the reliability of the complainant's evidence.

The appeal was dismissed.

In supplementary reasons, the Court of Appeal addressed an error in the application judge's formal judgments regarding the continuation of a right of survivorship after a joint tenancy was severed into a tenancy in common.

The court granted the respondent leave to cross-appeal without a formal notice, varied the judgments to extinguish the right of survivorship, and issued a vesting order transferring 100% of the beneficial interest in the property to the respondent as the beneficiary of a resulting trust.

The appellant appealed his convictions for production and possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, arguing the trial judge erred in failing to exclude evidence under s. 24(2) of the Charter.

The appellant claimed his ss. 10(a) and 10(b) rights were breached due to a delay in providing a Vietnamese interpreter upon his arrest.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's application of the Grant factors, noting the delay was an isolated mistake, the appellant was not mistreated, and the evidence was obtained pursuant to a valid search warrant issued prior to the arrest.

The conviction appeal was dismissed, and the sentence appeal was abandoned.

The appellant appealed her convictions for fraudulent personation and offences related to a forged certificate of stay of probation.

She argued the circumstantial evidence was insufficient to prove she prepared and sent the documents, and that the trial should have been heard in Superior Court because a testifying lawyer allegedly acted as a second prosecutor.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal, finding the trial judge reasonably concluded guilt was the only logical inference, and rejected the jurisdictional argument as meritless.

The sentence appeal was dismissed as abandoned.

The appellant pleaded guilty to several offences, including possession for the purpose of trafficking in fentanyl and cocaine, and was sentenced to a global term of nine years.

He appealed the sentence, arguing it was excessive and seeking a reduction based on fresh evidence of lockdown conditions and triple bunking.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the sentencing judge's reasons, noting the aggravating factors such as the nature and quantity of the drugs and the appellant's criminal record.

The court admitted the fresh evidence but declined to reduce the sentence, concluding it remained fit.

The appellant appealed his sentence of seven years and seven months for firearms and drug offences, arguing the trial judge erred by treating him as a recidivist based on his youth record and by failing to grant a further sentence reduction for harsh pre-trial custody conditions.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge properly weighed the appellant's continuous criminal record, including a youth conviction for first-degree murder using a firearm, to assess moral culpability.

The Court also held that the trial judge appropriately factored the harsh pre-trial conditions into the global sentence without requiring a mathematical deduction.

The self-represented appellant appealed a verdict of not criminally responsible (NCR) for assault and mischief charges.

The Crown conceded that the appellant was not advised of his right to request a trial in French pursuant to s. 530(3) of the Criminal Code at his first appearance.

The Court of Appeal found that the appellant had expressed a choice for a French trial and never waived it in a free and informed manner.

The Crown failed to prove that the breach of language rights did not cause prejudice.

The appeal was allowed, the NCR verdict was quashed, and a new trial in French was ordered.

The appellants appealed a motion judge's order that permanently stayed their action against a law firm (A&B) on the basis that it constituted an abuse of process for not having been added to an existing 'Main Action' involving the same factual circumstances.

The Court of Appeal found that the motion judge erred in concluding that commencing a separate action was an abuse of process, as it is not always abusive to start a new action instead of amending an existing one, especially when distinct claims or privilege concerns are involved.

However, the Court upheld the procedural direction that the claims should proceed in a single action.

The appeal was allowed in part, setting aside the permanent stay and replacing it with a temporary stay, allowing the appellants to bring a motion to add A&B as a defendant to the Main Action, with the ultimate determination of a permanent stay to be made by the motion judge hearing that application.

The appellant, convicted of sexual assault, sought leave to appeal his three-year custodial sentence.

The appeal raised two grounds: that the trial judge erred in relying on R. v. A.J.K. as mandating a minimum three-year sentence for penetration, and that she failed to consider relevant R. v. Friesen factors.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge did not apply a minimum sentence but rather a fit range, and appropriately considered all relevant sentencing factors, including the seriousness of digital penetration.

T.J.W. appealed his sentence of five years for two counts of sexual interference, arguing the trial judge erred by failing to identify his advanced age (76 at sentencing) as a mitigating factor and by giving insufficient weight to other mitigating factors.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge was aware of the appellant's age and considered it, and that defence counsel did not present evidence of health conditions or specific impacts of incarceration due to age.

The court concluded that the trial judge gave due weight to all relevant factors, including family support and community contributions, and that the sentence was within the appropriate range, emphasizing denunciation and deterrence.