M. Van Walleghem

The Crown appealed the accused's acquittal on charges of impaired driving and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit.

At trial, the accused successfully raised the defence of non-mental disorder automatism, specifically dissociative fugue.

The summary conviction appeal court found that the trial judge erred in law by requiring the Crown to disprove the automatism defence beyond a reasonable doubt, rather than requiring the accused to prove it on a balance of probabilities.

The appeal was allowed, the acquittal was overturned, and a conviction was entered for impaired driving, with a stay on the over 80 charge.

The appellant mother appealed a trial decision granting sole custody of the parties' two children to the respondent father and ordering her to pay costs.

The mother had unilaterally moved with the children from Dryden to Kenora, prompting both parties to seek a variation of the existing joint custody order.

The appeal court upheld the trial judge's decision on custody, finding that the mother's relocation constituted a material change in circumstances and that the trial judge properly assessed the children's best interests under the Children's Law Reform Act.

However, the appeal court allowed the appeal on costs, reducing the trial costs award from $6,942.14 to $2,500.00 because the trial judge failed to consider the mother's offers to settle and her limited ability to pay.