Paul L. Moreau

The appellant was stopped for speeding.

The police officer smelled freshly burnt marijuana and found a large amount of cash on the appellant's person.

The officer arrested the appellant for possession of a controlled substance and searched his vehicle, finding crack cocaine.

The trial judge admitted the evidence and convicted the appellant of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, finding the arrest was lawful under the Criminal Code and the search was properly incidental to the arrest, with no Charter violations.

The appellant pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault.

The trial judge sentenced him to 12 months and 6 months concurrently, finding neither assault was a 'major sexual assault' under the Alberta Court of Appeal's starting-point approach.

The Court of Appeal overturned the sentence, substituting a global sentence of 5 years, holding the trial judge erred in not classifying the first assault as major.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and restored the trial judge's sentence, holding that a sentencing judge's failure to categorize an offence according to judicially created categories is not an error in principle, and an appellate court should only intervene if the sentence is demonstrably unfit or if there is an error in principle, failure to consider a relevant factor, or overemphasis of appropriate factors.

The appellants appealed their convictions for second degree murder and manslaughter.

The appeal concerned whether the trial judge failed to properly instruct the jury on self-defence and defence of another following a verbal threat made to an inmate.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal as of right, substantially for the reasons of the dissenting judge in the Court of Appeal, set aside the convictions, and ordered a new trial.