Michael Edelson

During a criminal trial for second-degree murder and accessory after the fact, the court ruled on whether the partial defence of provocation should be put to the jury and whether directed verdicts of acquittal should be entered for the accessory charges.

The court found an air of reality to the provocation defence, noting evidence that the deceased may have fired first.

The court dismissed the application for a directed verdict on accessory after the fact to a firearms offence, but granted a directed verdict of acquittal for accessory after the fact to murder, as the victim was not yet dead when the assistance was provided.

Two Ottawa police officers were charged with assault following an SIU investigation and were issued summonses to attend SIU headquarters in Mississauga for fingerprinting.

The officers brought an application for certiorari to quash the summonses, arguing that the Crown's subsequent election to proceed summarily invalidated the summonses, that the travel requirement breached procedural fairness, and that it constituted an unreasonable search under section 8 of the Charter.

The Superior Court dismissed the application, finding that the Crown's election did not retroactively invalidate the Justice of the Peace's jurisdiction, the travel requirement was a reasonable policy to ensure SIU independence and operational readiness, and the inconvenience of travel did not render the fingerprinting an unreasonable search.