Michael Agustin Navarro

The accused, R.G., was charged with sexual assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose against his spouse.

The trial judge found the complainant's evidence to be credible despite defence arguments regarding her memory issues stemming from a traumatic brain injury.

The defence's attempt to establish a motive to fabricate on the complainant's part, involving an alleged paramour, was rejected as contrived and self-serving.

The court found the accused guilty on both counts, emphasizing that the Crown's evidence was clear, powerful, and compelling.

A pre-sentence report was ordered, and uncharged sexual assault allegations were noted as potential aggravating factors for sentencing.

The Crown applied under s. 715.1 of the Criminal Code to admit the videotaped statement of the complainant, who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged sexual assault.

The defence objected to the admission, arguing that the police officer asked leading questions, the statement was unresponsive, and the video quality was poor.

The court reviewed the statement and found that it met the statutory requirements, as it was made within a reasonable time and described the acts complained of.

The court ordered minor edits to remove a few leading questions but otherwise granted the application to admit the statement.

The accused, charged with sexual assault, brought a section 8 Charter application seeking to exclude text messages seized from the complainant's cell phone.

The Crown requested that the case management judge summarily dismiss the application, arguing that the Supreme Court's decision in Marakah did not apply because the complainant consented to the police photographing the messages.

The court declined to summarily dismiss the application, finding that Marakah did not definitively resolve the impact of one party's consent on the other party's privacy interests, and therefore the application raised a live issue warranting a full hearing.