Milton James Fernandes

The Crown brought a forfeiture application pursuant to section 771 of the Criminal Code following the accused's breach of his recognizance of bail.

The accused had pled guilty to three serious drugs and weapons charges and was released on strict conditions, including wearing a GPS monitoring bracelet and residing with his surety.

The accused knowingly removed his GPS bracelet and absconded from his surety.

The court found the accused's conduct constituted a flagrant disregard for the terms of release and ordered forfeiture of the full $200,000 pledged by the accused and the full $50,000 pledged by the surety.

The accused brought an application for a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter, arguing his right to be tried within a reasonable time was infringed.

The total delay from arrest to the projected end of the trial was approximately 32 months, exceeding the 30-month presumptive ceiling established in Jordan.

However, the court deducted three periods of defence delay, including time when defence counsel was unavailable for offered trial dates, a scheduling error by defence counsel, and a frivolous mistrial application regarding an interpreter.

After these deductions, the net delay fell below the 30-month ceiling.

The application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed.

During a jury trial for sexual assault, a juror sent a note to the trial judge reporting that another juror had shared a story with the panel about a friend who was falsely accused of a similar offence.

The trial judge conducted an inquiry in accordance with the process set out in R. v. Giroux.

The judge discharged the offending juror under s. 644 of the Criminal Code for reasonable cause, finding she could be influenced by her friend's experience and had failed to disclose this during jury selection.

The juror who reported the incident was retained, as she had appropriately followed the court's preliminary instructions.