Natalia Pawlowski

The applicant, charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement, brought an application under s. 11(b) of the Charter alleging unreasonable delay.

The total delay was 904 days.

The Crown argued that after deducting defence delay, the net delay was below the 18-month presumptive ceiling.

The court attributed 289 days to defence delay, including periods of counsel unavailability and time to review late disclosure.

The net delay of 615 days exceeded the presumptive ceiling.

The court found that late disclosure by the Crown was the precipitating cause of the adjournment and the need to reschedule the trial.

The application was granted and the charges were stayed.

This decision addresses the issue of reasonable and probable grounds (RPG) for arrest and demand in a drug-impaired driving case.

The court found that Officer Accursi had both subjective and objectively reasonable grounds to arrest Dalton Powell based on observations corroborated by a civilian witness and body camera footage.

The accused's Charter s. 8 and s. 9 rights were found not to be violated, including an overholding claim where the accused was detained for approximately six hours after the initial arrest.

The court also found the Crown proved impairment beyond a reasonable doubt based on officer observations, Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) testing, and urinalysis results.