Mohammed M. Rahman

Appeal from conviction for sexual assault and related offences.

The sole ground of appeal concerned an unsuccessful application to stay proceedings for unreasonable delay.

After accounting for defence delay, the trial judge found net delay of over 18 months and identified two exceptional circumstances, including pandemic-related backlog.

The appellant argued the trial judge erred by failing to articulate how pandemic delay specifically impacted the case and by speaking in generalities.

The appellate court upheld the trial judge's reasoning, finding it was open to her to rely on her familiarity with the jurisdiction and the pandemic delay it was experiencing, and that she was not required to assign the delay to a particular period of time.

The appellant appealed a three-year penitentiary sentence imposed for two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking involving approximately 1.2 kilograms of cocaine and over 800 grams of methamphetamine.

The Crown had sought six years while the defence sought a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence.

The appellant argued the trial judge erroneously relied on other seized items (cash, cocaine press, ammunition, and other drugs) to determine his level of involvement, contending these items had not been proven as separate offences.

The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence, finding the trial judge properly considered facts from the agreed statement of facts to assess the appellant's level of involvement and imposed a fit sentence considering all circumstances, including mitigating factors and the appellant's genuine remorse.

This appeal concerns the certification of a class proceeding and the granting of leave to proceed with a secondary market misrepresentation claim under the Securities Act.

The respondent, a former shareholder of Akumin Inc., sought to certify a class action on behalf of purchasers of Akumin securities (common shares and secured notes) alleging misrepresentations in financial statements and seeking relief under both statutory provisions and common law negligence.

The appellants challenged both the leave order and the certification order, arguing that certain disclosures did not constitute "public corrections," that an efficient market requirement applied to secondary market claims, and that common law negligence claims should not be certified alongside statutory claims.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decisions, clarifying the law on public corrections, rejecting an efficient market requirement, and confirming that common law claims can be certified alongside statutory claims.

A wrongfully retained child was ordered returned to her country of origin after Canada granted her refugee status.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario allowed the appeal, finding that the application judge erred in failing to apply the rebuttable presumption against the return of a refugee child and in dismissing the child's objection to return.

The court held that when a child has been recognized as a Convention refugee by the Immigration and Refugee Board, a rebuttable presumption arises that there is a risk of persecution on return.

The application judge improperly questioned the refugee determination process and reweighed evidence without oral testimony or cross-examination.

Additionally, the child's clear and repeated objection to return, based on fear of violence by the father, was not given proper weight.

The matter was remitted to the Superior Court for determination of parenting and decision-making authority under section 23 of the Children's Law Reform Act.

The appellant appealed his conviction for sexual assault contrary to section 271 of the Criminal Code and his sentence.

The appellant was charged in September 2019 with sexual assault and administering a noxious substance.

The latter charge was withdrawn.

Following a hung jury in June 2022, the appellant was tried before a judge alone, who found that he sexually assaulted the complainant twice.

The appellant raised three grounds of appeal: (1) the trial judge erred in finding no breach of section 8 of the Charter regarding an overbroad search of his cell phone; (2) the trial judge erred in finding no breach of section 7 of the Charter based on non-disclosure of the information to obtain the search warrant and minimized the materiality of the hotel video in the conviction; and (3) the trial judge erred in failing to grant sufficient sentencing credit for harsh conditions in pre-sentence custody.

The Court of Appeal dismissed all grounds of appeal and upheld both the conviction and sentence.

The appellant, 1461043 Ontario Limited c.o.b. as Nuvo Iron, appealed the dismissal of its motion to vary a default judgment to add declarations of intentional breach of trust and that the judgment survived the respondents’ discharge from bankruptcy under s. 178(1)(d) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge’s decision, finding no basis in the record for the declarations sought and confirming that a mere breach of trust, even if negligent or incompetent, is insufficient to support a such an order.

The appeal was dismissed with costs to the respondents.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appellants’ appeal from a judgment granting partial summary judgment and continuing a Mareva injunction in favour of the respondents.

The appellants, led by Navdeep Singh Boparai, had persuaded the respondents to invest over $1 million in various schemes, which the motion judge found to be fraudulent.

The Court of Appeal found no reversible error in the motion judge’s analysis, including her findings of fraudulent misrepresentation, her application of the Rules of Civil Procedure, and her decision to continue the Mareva injunction.

The appeal was dismissed with substantial indemnity costs awarded to the respondents.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal by 2724582 Ontario Inc. and related parties, upholding the motion judge’s decision that a release signed by Rhonda Gold was void and unenforceable.

The court found that the process used to determine the enforceability of the release was appropriate, as both parties had agreed to it.

The release was found void in part because it contained an illegal provision barring regulatory complaints.

The court also rejected arguments that the motion judge’s findings about the mortgage scheme would cause inconsistent results at trial, and found no error in the judge’s treatment of the evidence.

Costs were awarded to the respondent.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal of Mounia Hassani Alami from a comprehensive trial judgment addressing property, support, and tort claims following the parties’ separation and divorce.

The appeal focused on the trial judge’s findings regarding a resulting trust in the matrimonial home and responsibility for a post-separation mortgage.

The Court upheld the trial judge’s application of the resulting trust doctrine and allocation of mortgage responsibility, finding no reviewable error.

Costs of $15,000 were awarded to the respondent.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal by Jagtar Dhaliwal and Voxx Sports Inc. from a Superior Court decision upholding an arbitrator’s refusal to recuse himself for bias.

The appellants alleged both a reasonable apprehension of bias and actual bias, based on the arbitrator’s prior involvement with respondents’ counsel and comments about the veracity of Mr. Dhaliwal’s affidavit.

The Court found no merit in either claim, holding that the arbitrator’s conduct did not give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias and that adverse credibility findings do not, on their own, establish actual bias.

The appeal was dismissed with costs to the respondents.

The appellant, Eli Messica, appealed an order granting the respondents’ application for the discharge of a security charge and dismissing his cross-application for damages.

The Court of Appeal upheld the application judge’s findings that the lease provided for the release of the guarantors upon assignment and that the cross-application was statute-barred by the two-year limitation period in the Limitations Act, 2002.

The court rejected arguments regarding the conversion of the application to an action and the applicability of the Real Property Limitations Act, finding no reversible error or prejudice.

This costs endorsement follows the dismissal of the appellant’s appeal.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario considered the parties’ written submissions on costs.

The respondents sought full recovery of $19,300.40, citing the appeal as unnecessary and the appellant’s arguments as unrelated to the application judge’s reasoning.

The appellant submitted that $5,000 would be reasonable and proportionate, noting their own bill of costs was $15,171.20.

The court found no basis for an elevated costs award but determined the appellant’s suggested amount was too low.

The respondents were awarded $11,500, all-inclusive, on a partial indemnity basis.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed David Tweneboa-Kodua’s motion for leave to appeal an order lifting a stay of eviction, finding the court lacked jurisdiction.

The proper avenue to challenge the Divisional Court’s order was a motion before a panel of that court, not an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

The court found the motion frivolous and an abuse of process, and made no order as to costs.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed Susan Hutchison’s appeal from an order requiring her to pay spousal support to Matthew Bosrock and her application for leave to appeal the trial judge’s costs award.

The court found no error in the trial judge’s assessment of income, consideration of mortgage repayments, or imputation of income.

The court also upheld the costs award, finding that the trial judge properly considered the divided success at trial and the time spent on the main issues.

The appellant, John Dunford, appealed the dismissal of his claim for damages against the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation.

Dunford alleged that Dr. James E. Anderson, who was involved with the Cool School program, sexually abused him and that the hospital was vicariously liable.

The trial judge found that Dr. Anderson committed the tort of sexual battery but concluded the hospital was not vicariously liable due to insufficient closeness in the relationship.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge’s findings, holding that the correct legal test was applied and that the policy rationales for vicarious liability were properly considered.

The appeal was dismissed, and costs were awarded to the respondents.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appellants’ appeal from a trial judgment awarding $160,000 to the respondent for loans that were not repaid.

The trial judge’s decision was based on unjust enrichment, as there was no agreement on the term or interest rate of the loans.

The Court upheld the trial judge’s refusal to allow the appellants to withdraw deemed admissions or to introduce late evidence, finding no procedural unfairness.

The Court also found no error in the exclusion of a late-proposed witness and in the trial judge’s unjust enrichment analysis.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the appeal by Sa Yan and Royal LePage Signature Realty regarding the return of a $60,000 deposit following the termination of an assignment of an agreement of purchase and sale.

The court upheld the application judge’s finding that the respondents, Christine Yui and Michelle Yui, properly exercised a lawyer approval condition to terminate the agreement and were entitled to the return of their deposit.

The court also declined to vary the order to include pre- and post-judgment interest, as the respondents had not brought a cross-appeal.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed a motion for a panel review of a motion judge’s decision denying an extension of time to perfect an appeal in a family law matter.

The panel found no error in the motion judge’s exercise of discretion, holding that the correct legal principles were applied and the result was reasonable.

The appellant’s arguments regarding the respondent’s opposition to the motion were rejected based on the record.

The motion was dismissed without costs.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario issued a costs endorsement after the appellant, Boshra Mikhail, abandoned his appeal less than two weeks before the scheduled hearing.

The court awarded the respondent, Eman Mikhail, costs of $10,000, inclusive of disbursements and applicable taxes, after considering written submissions from both parties.

The appellant, Gregory Whalen, was convicted of multiple sexual offences against his stepdaughter, V.K., and appealed his conviction.

The central issue on appeal was the admissibility of surreptitious audio recordings made by V.K.’s mother during phone calls with the appellant.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge’s decision to admit the recordings, finding that their probative value outweighed any prejudicial effect and that the trial judge’s instructions to the jury were appropriate.

The appeal from conviction was dismissed.