Kevin Howard Matthews

The Crown appealed a sentence imposed on a 17-year-old youth who was found guilty of sexual interference with a 13-year-old intoxicated girl.

The trial judge imposed 24 months probation with 120 hours of community service.

The Crown sought leave to appeal and argued the trial judge erred in finding the offence was not a violent offence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and in treating the victim's willing participation as a mitigating factor.

The Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal but dismissed the appeal, finding the sentence was fit despite the trial judge's legal errors regarding the victim's participation and the provision of birth control.

Two accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery respectively, following an altercation over a bicycle that resulted in the victim's death.

The court considered sentencing ranges, pre-sentence custody credits, and Gladue principles for both Indigenous offenders.

Sentences were imposed, with the court emphasizing denunciation and deterrence, particularly for the manslaughter conviction involving a vulnerable victim.

The accused, Patrick O’Keese, was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of breach of recognizance.

The Crown alleged O'Keese murdered Brayden Moonias and then attacked Eric Lawson.

The court found that while an unlawful act caused Moonias's death, the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that O'Keese committed the assault.

The court found reasonable alternative inferences regarding the timing of the Lawson attack, which impacted the interpretation of O'Keese's post-offence conduct.

Consequently, O'Keese was acquitted of murder and manslaughter but convicted on both breach of recognizance counts.

The applicant sought a stay of proceedings under s. 24(1) of the Charter due to an alleged violation of his s. 11(b) right to a trial within a reasonable time.

The total delay from charge to trial was 42 months.

The court attributed 4 months and 2 weeks to defence delay and 1 month and 3 weeks to a discrete event (court recording system failure), resulting in a net delay of 35 months and 3 weeks.

This exceeded the 30-month presumptive ceiling established in R. v. Jordan.

The Crown failed to demonstrate transitional exceptional circumstances to justify the delay, citing a general lack of diligence, including a year for disclosure and 12 months for a two-day preliminary inquiry.

The court found a violation of s. 11(b) and granted a stay of proceedings.

An employer operating a sawmill was convicted of violating Section 75(b) of Ontario Regulation 851 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure that side cantors of an industrial saw machine were blocked as prescribed.

A worker suffered crushing injuries when side-heads moved during maintenance because hydraulic power was not shut off.

The trial Justice found that "blocked" requires a physical blocking mechanism, not merely shutting off hydraulic power.

The appellant appealed, arguing the Justice erred in interpreting "blocked" and that the sentence of $48,000 was excessive.

The appeal court upheld the conviction and sentence, finding no palpable error in the trial Justice's interpretation of the legislation in the context of worker safety.