Morrie Adam Luft

The accused, Frederick Leon, brought a s. 11(b) Charter application seeking a stay of proceedings for second-degree murder due to unreasonable delay.

The court applied the Jordan framework, calculating total delay, defence delay, and considering exceptional circumstances, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on trial scheduling.

The court found that after deducting defence delay and pandemic-related delay, the net delay fell below the presumptive ceiling.

The application was dismissed.

The accused, Jeremy Menary, brought a motion to sever three criminal charges on an indictment: possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking (Count 2), possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking (Count 1), and possession of a loaded prohibited firearm (Count 3).

Menary sought a jury trial only on the fentanyl charge, intending to not contest the cocaine and firearm charges by filing an agreed statement of facts to preserve his right to appeal a prior Charter application ruling.

The court granted the severance, finding that the prejudice to the accused outweighed the public interest in a single trial, particularly given the accused's desire to testify on one count but not others, and the simplification of the jury trial on the contested count.

The court ordered that the findings of guilt on the uncontested counts would be entered before the jury trial on the fentanyl charge commenced.

The accused, Jeremy Menary, faced criminal charges related to the possession of a loaded handgun, cash, and various drugs found during his arrest.

He brought a Charter application to exclude all evidence under section 24(2), alleging violations of his sections 8, 9, 10(a), and 10(b) rights.

The defence argued that the arrest for impaired driving was a pretext to justify an unlawful search.

The court dismissed the Charter application, finding no violations.

It held that the police had reasonable and probable grounds to arrest the accused for impaired driving, which lawfully preceded the search.

The court also found that the brief pre-arrest detention was justified under section 216(1) of the Highway Traffic Act for investigating sobriety and vehicle authorization, thus not triggering immediate section 10 Charter rights.

The applicant, Andrew White, sought a declaration that electronic messages exchanged between himself and the complainant, A.S., and in a group chat with A.S. and her mother, were not "records" under s. 278.92(1) of the Criminal Code.

This determination was crucial to avoid the requirement of an application under s. 278.93 for their use at trial.

The court, following the procedure established in R. v. W.M., reviewed the messages and applied a normative analysis to determine if the complainant had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Considering the innocuous content, the manner of communication, the nature of the relationship (even with a minor complainant), and policy implications, the court concluded that the messages did not contain personal information for which there was a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Consequently, the application was granted, and the messages were deemed not to be "records" under the Criminal Code.

Rachard Holder was convicted by a jury of attempted murder, pointing a firearm, and intentionally discharging a firearm, and by the judge of possession of a firearm contrary to an order.

The charges stemmed from a premeditated shotgun shooting of Steven Cseko, who had intervened in a domestic dispute.

The victim suffered catastrophic, permanent injuries.

The Crown sought a life sentence, while the defence proposed ten years.

The court found the shooting to be cold-blooded and senseless, with a lack of remorse from the offender, indicating a high likelihood of future dangerousness.

Considering aggravating factors such as the offender's escalating criminal record, breach of court orders, premeditation, and the horrific impact on the victim and community, the court imposed a life sentence for attempted murder.

The convictions for pointing a firearm and intentionally discharging a firearm were stayed under the Kienapple principle.

A concurrent one-year sentence was imposed for the breach of the weapons prohibition order.

Ancillary orders included a lifetime weapons prohibition, a DNA sample, and a non-communication order with the victim and his family.

The offender was sentenced following jury convictions for multiple offences including possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime, and several breaches of firearms prohibition orders.

Police located drugs, cash, and a loaded handgun in a safe in an apartment connected to the offender, and cocaine in a vehicle he was driving.

The offender had a lengthy criminal record involving firearms and drug trafficking offences and was already subject to prohibition orders at the time.

Applying principles of denunciation, deterrence, and totality, the court imposed a global sentence of ten years’ imprisonment.

Credit of approximately 29 months was granted for pre‑sentence custody, including limited enhanced credit for triple bunking and lack of yard access.