Lisa Jorgensen

The Crown applied to designate the respondent a dangerous offender following his convictions for sexual assault causing bodily harm, choking, and unlawful confinement.

The court reviewed the respondent's extensive criminal history, institutional behavior, and psychiatric assessments.

The court found that the respondent met the criteria for a dangerous offender designation due to a pattern of repetitive and persistent aggressive behavior.

However, noting some recent improvements and the possibility of managing his risk in the community, the court imposed a determinate sentence of 15 years and 9 months, followed by a 10-year long-term supervision order, rather than an indeterminate sentence.

The appellant appealed his conviction and sentence for sexual assault.

At trial, the judge accepted the complainant's evidence that the appellant touched her breast without consent after attempting to kiss her and asking about her sex life.

On appeal, the appellant argued the trial judge applied uneven scrutiny to the evidence, misapplied the W.(D.) framework, and erred in finding the touching was sexual under Chase.

The summary conviction appeal court dismissed the conviction appeal, finding no errors in the trial judge's credibility assessments or legal application.

The sentence appeal was also dismissed, as the trial judge made no error in principle in declining to grant a conditional discharge.

The accused, charged with firearms offences, brought a Charter application challenging the search warrant for his residence.

The warrant was based primarily on information from a confidential informant who stated the accused kept a handgun in his vehicle.

The affiant officer asserted a generalized belief that the accused might transfer the firearm to his home, but omitted a material fact from surveillance that a satchel suspected of containing the firearm was left in the vehicle.

The court found the Information to Obtain lacked sufficient grounds to search the home, resulting in a section 8 Charter breach.

Applying the Grant framework under section 24(2), the court excluded the firearm and ammunition, finding the serious Charter-infringing conduct and impact on privacy outweighed the societal interest in adjudication on the merits.

The offender was found guilty of sexual assault with a weapon, robbery, and threatening death for an attack on a sex trade worker in 1990.

At the time of the offences, the offender was 17 years old.

The Crown applied to have the offender sentenced as an adult under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The court found the presumption of diminished moral blameworthiness was rebutted and a youth sentence would not be sufficient to hold the offender accountable.

The offender was sentenced as an adult to a total of 8 years in custody.

The Crown appealed the accused's acquittal on a charge of operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration over 80mgs.

At trial, the judge excluded the breathalyzer evidence under section 24(2) of the Charter, finding the traffic stop was arbitrary.

In reaching this conclusion, the trial judge relied on extraneous information regarding the arresting officer's receipt of awards for apprehending impaired drivers, which was not entered into evidence.

The Superior Court of Justice held that the trial judge erred in law by relying on this extraneous information, as it did not meet the test for judicial notice and could have affected the assessment of the officer's credibility.

The appeal was allowed, the acquittal set aside, and a new trial ordered.

Following a decision regarding the assessment of a law firm's accounts, the court received cost submissions.

The respondent law firm sought $14,800 in costs, including a $10,000 disbursement for a transcript.

The applicant opposed the transcript costs and alleged duplication.

The court found the requested costs modest, upheld the necessity of the transcript, and fixed costs at $10,800 inclusive of disbursements and HST, to be set off against the amount the law firm was ordered to repay the applicant.