Kelly Ponte

The Ontario Court of Justice acquitted Abdoulie Ceesay of criminal harassment charges related to alleged repeated communications and visits to his former girlfriend, Eunice Terry Mwara.

The court emphasized the high burden of proof on the Crown to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, noting significant evidentiary weaknesses including speculative identification of Mr. Ceesay’s car, conflicting accounts of communication frequency, and the absence of independent evidence supporting claims of prior assaultive behaviour.

The judge also considered Mr. Ceesay’s lawful authority to communicate in order to retrieve his debit card, which was in Ms. Mwara’s possession.

Ultimately, the Crown failed to prove the elements of the offence, including reasonable fear and knowledge of harassment, leading to a not guilty verdict.

C.H. appealed convictions for mischief under $5000, uttering threats, common assault, and sexual assault committed against his former fiancée.

The appeal raised several grounds, including the trial judge's treatment of character evidence, application of the rule in R. v. W.(D.), evaluation of motive and delay in reporting, treatment of exculpatory evidence for sexual assault, and misuse of a prior consistent statement.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no reversible error in most grounds.

While acknowledging an error in the trial judge's hypothetical comment on exculpatory evidence for sexual assault and the misuse of a prior consistent statement, the court concluded these errors did not contribute to the convictions or warrant setting them aside.