Fentanyl

The applicant, having been convicted of drug trafficking and weapons offences and sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment, applied for bail pending appeal.

The Crown opposed bail on the public interest ground, citing the seriousness of the fentanyl trafficking offences.

The motion judge granted bail, finding that the applicant was not a flight or safety risk, and that his appeal grounds—alleging the trial judge erred in the s. 24(2) Charter analysis by failing to consider s. 8 and s. 10 breaches holistically—were of moderate strength.

Balancing the reviewability and enforceability interests, the court concluded that public confidence in the administration of justice favoured release.

Rhett Wrightsell pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking (fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine).

The court considered aggravating factors, including the significant amount of fentanyl (cut with benzodiazepine), the multiple substances, the danger posed to hotel staff, and the impact on the Kenora community, particularly vulnerable Indigenous populations.

Mitigating factors included the offender's youth, lack of criminal record, early guilty plea, rehabilitative steps, and strong family support.

The Crown sought a 7-year penitentiary sentence, while the defense sought 5 years.

The court imposed a total sentence of 5.5 years in the penitentiary, with concurrent sentences for the cocaine and methamphetamine counts, emphasizing general and specific deterrence for fentanyl trafficking.

Michael Bennett and Dylan Griggs were found guilty after trial of possession of fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of proceeds of crime.

The court considered the serious nature of the drugs, the profit motive, the large quantities involved, and the fact that both were first offenders without drug dependence issues.

Credit for pre-sentence custody and bail conditions (house arrest, curfew) was factored into the sentences.

Bennett was sentenced to a total of five years in penitentiary, and Griggs was sentenced to a total of eleven years in penitentiary.

Automatic weapons prohibitions, DNA orders, and victim surcharges were also imposed, and seized cash and offence-related property were ordered forfeited.

The appellant, convicted of five counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, one count of simple possession, and two counts of breach of probation, appealed his convictions and sought leave to appeal his sentence.

The primary ground of appeal challenged the trial judge's dismissal of a pre-trial Charter application, arguing that his warrantless arrest and subsequent search violated his ss. 8 and 9 Charter rights due to a lack of reasonable and probable grounds.

The appellant also contended that the trial judge erred in concluding that seized fentanyl and fentanyl/cocaine mixture were for the purpose of trafficking.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both the conviction and sentence appeals, affirming the trial judge's finding of reasonable and probable grounds for arrest based on the totality of circumstances, including confidential informant information and police surveillance.

The court also upheld the trafficking convictions, finding the evidence overwhelming despite a minor error by the trial judge regarding a concession.

Claude Séguin appealed his conviction for possession of fentanyl for trafficking, possession of methamphetamine pills, and possession of criminally obtained property, as well as his 12-year incarceration sentence.

His grounds of appeal included alleged violations of his linguistic rights (right to a French trial), inaccurate transcription of proceedings, an erroneous finding of fact regarding his control over a storage room where fentanyl was found, and ineffective assistance of counsel.

The Court of Appeal dismissed all grounds of appeal, finding that Séguin had explicitly chosen to proceed in English, the trial judge's factual findings were reasonable and supported by evidence, and there was no merit to the claims of transcription errors or ineffective counsel.

The court also found no error in the imposed sentence, noting the serious nature of the offences and the large quantity of fentanyl involved.

The appellant, Michael Fournier, appealed his conviction for trafficking fentanyl-carfentinil and manslaughter in connection with the overdose death of a fellow inmate.

He argued that the trial judge erred in rejecting his defence of duress and in finding legal causation for manslaughter.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, affirming that the trial judge correctly found the appellant acted willingly, had safe avenues of escape, and that his trafficking was a significant contributing cause of the victim's death, despite the victim's voluntary drug consumption.

Daniel Dubajic, a first offender, was convicted on 73 counts related to possessing colossal amounts of drugs (106 kg cocaine, 5 kg fentanyl, 30 kg crystal methamphetamine, 4 kg MDMA) for trafficking and numerous firearms (57 handguns, 8 long guns, 15,000 rounds of ammunition) for transfer.

The Crown sought a 25-year sentence, while the defence proposed 15 years.

The court imposed an 18-year sentence, emphasizing denunciation and general deterrence, but also considering the law of diminishing returns and the offender's rehabilitative potential as a first offender, finding his role was not at the top of the trafficking hierarchy.

After applying 3 years and 1 month of credit for pre-sentence custody (including Summers and Duncan credits), the remaining sentence to be served is 13 years and 10 months.

Youssef Messoudi was found guilty of importing 754 grams of methoxyacetyl fentanyl, an analogue of fentanyl with an estimated street value of $23-38 million, and occupying a vehicle with a prohibited weapon.

The Crown sought a sentence of 15-20 years, while the defence proposed 8 years.

The court emphasized deterrence and denunciation as paramount for fentanyl offences, acknowledging the drug's extreme danger and societal impact.

While considering the offender's youth (23 years old) and rehabilitative efforts (completing high school), the court found him to be involved beyond a simple street trafficker.

A Charter s. 10(a) breach (failure to promptly inform of arrest reason) was found but did not warrant a sentence reduction due to lack of deliberate police misconduct.

The court imposed a sentence of 12 years for importing fentanyl and 3 years concurrent for the firearms offence, with a credit of 1 year for pre-trial custody and house arrest, resulting in a total sentence of 11 years imprisonment.

This is an application by the appellant to reopen his appeal, which was previously dismissed as abandoned due to his failure to surrender into custody as required by his bail release order.

The appellant had been convicted of drug-related offences, including possession for the purpose of trafficking, and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario denied the application, finding that the appellant's explanation for his failure to surrender was problematic, his grounds of appeal were not strong, the Crown would be prejudiced by the disposal of evidence, and the principle of finality weighed against reopening the appeal.

The appellant was convicted of importing fentanyl and possession for the purpose of trafficking after a controlled delivery of a package from China.

On appeal, she raised several grounds, including errors in jury instructions on importing, circumstantial evidence, and after-the-fact conduct, as well as the unreasonableness of the verdicts.

The Court of Appeal dismissed these grounds but allowed the appeal based on two errors: the trial judge improperly permitted the Crown to invite an adverse inference against the appellant for testifying after another defence witness, and the trial judge erred in dismissing the appellant's application to adduce evidence of a known third-party suspect.

The convictions were set aside and a new trial was ordered.

The applicant, charged with possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking and firearms offences, sought release on a 90-day detention review under s. 525 of the Criminal Code.

The proposed release plan involved a single surety who could not provide 24/7 supervision.

The court found that while continued detention was not justified on the secondary ground, it was justified on the tertiary ground.

The serious nature of the charges, combined with a weak release plan that left the applicant unsupervised for periods of time, meant that release would undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.

The application for release was dismissed.

The appellant appealed her convictions for uttering forged prescriptions and possession of stolen property, as well as her 18-month sentence.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeals for uttering forged documents, finding no fatal errors in the Crown's examination of an accomplice or the trial judge's Vetrovec warning.

However, the court allowed the appeal on the possession of stolen property charge and ordered a new trial, as the jury was not properly instructed on the elements of theft, specifically 'fraudulently' and 'without colour of right'.

The sentence for the uttering charges was varied to a 12-month conditional sentence.

The appellant appealed her convictions and sentence for possession of heroin and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of methamphetamine.

The drugs were found during a search of her apartment, which she shared with her boyfriend.

The trial judge found she had knowledge and control of the drugs based on her presence, text messages, and surveillance evidence.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal, finding no palpable and overriding error.

The sentence appeal was also dismissed, as the trial judge made no error in principle in imposing a two-year sentence.

The appellants, John Disher and Reana Weaver, appealed their sentences for drug trafficking offences involving fentanyl and carfentanil.

Disher was originally sentenced to 12 years and Weaver to 7 years.

The Court of Appeal found that the sentencing judge erred by failing to consider Disher's rehabilitative prospects and by failing to properly apply the principles of restraint and rehabilitation for Weaver, a youthful, first-time Indigenous offender.

The appeals were allowed, and the sentences were reduced to 8 years for Disher and 4 years for Weaver.

The self-represented appellant was convicted of fentanyl trafficking, conspiracy, and uttering forged documents.

He appealed on the basis that he was denied access to the Crown's digital disclosure while incarcerated during the trial.

The Crown conceded the trial was unfair and the appeal should be allowed, but argued for a new trial.

The appellant sought acquittals, arguing he had already served part of his sentence and the verdict was unreasonable.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial, finding there was sufficient evidence upon which a properly instructed jury could convict.

The appellant appealed his conviction for drug offences, arguing the trial judge erred in failing to exclude a statement he made after police violated his s. 10(b) Charter rights.

The arresting officer had twice asked if the appellant wanted to make a statement after he requested counsel.

However, the appellant later spontaneously asked if his wife would be arrested, and upon receiving a truthful answer, confessed to owning drugs in a safe.

The Court of Appeal found that while there was a Charter breach, the statement was spontaneous and not causally connected to the breach.

Applying the Grant framework, the court concluded that admitting the evidence would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The appeal was dismissed.

The accused brought a Charter application under s. 8 and s. 24(2) to exclude evidence seized during the execution of a search warrant at a trailer residence.

The court found the Information to Obtain (ITO) contained sufficient grounds based on informant tips to justify the search of the trailer.

However, the court ruled that the police lacked lawful authority to search a locked shed located behind the trailer, as it fell outside the curtilage of the residence described in the warrant.

Applying the Grant framework, the court concluded that admitting the evidence from the shed would bring the administration of justice into disrepute due to the seriousness of the police conduct in failing to obtain a separate warrant.

The evidence found in the shed was excluded.

The offender was convicted after trial of trafficking fentanyl and pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and two counts of unauthorized possession of firearms.

The Crown sought a penitentiary sentence of 3.5 years.

The court found exceptional circumstances, including the offender's severe health issues, rehabilitation efforts, and the parity principle, given that the co-adjudicator received a significantly lighter sentence.

The court imposed a reformatory sentence of 15 months in custody followed by two years of probation.

The Crown applied for a bail review of a release order for the respondent, who was charged with trafficking significant quantities of cocaine and fentanyl.

The Crown argued the Justice of the Peace failed to properly consider the tertiary ground for detention under s. 515(10)(c) of the Criminal Code.

The Superior Court of Justice agreed, finding that the Justice of the Peace failed to explain why detention was not required given the extremely strong Crown case, the gravity of the offences, and the public safety risks associated with fentanyl.

The application was allowed, the release order was vacated, and the respondent was ordered detained in custody.

The accused were charged with possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, and simple possession of hydromorphone, following a police raid on a residence.

The court found the male accused guilty of possessing the methamphetamine and fentanyl, as circumstantial evidence linked him to the drugs found in the bathroom.

The female accused was acquitted of those charges but found guilty of simple possession of hydromorphone based on her admission to police regarding spoons containing morphine found in a bedroom.