Court of Appeal for Ontario
MOLDAVER, SHARPE and BLAIR JJ.A.
BETWEEN:
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Respondent
and
DELANO RAWLINS
Appellant
Counsel:
Leslie Maunder for the appellant
Moiz Rahman for the respondent
Heard and endorsed: November 8, 2007
On appeal from conviction by Justice Christopher M. Speyer of the Superior Court of Justice, sitting with a jury, dated September 16, 2003.
APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT
1There was no obligation on the trial judge to conduct an inquiry, in this case, as to whether the triers understood their role and/or were themselves biased. The appellant’s complaint is tantamount to saying that the trial judge ought to have instructed all triers that a “Yes” response required that the potential juror be automatically disqualified. That is not the law: see R. v. Brown (2005), 194 C.C.C. (3d) 76 at para. 40, where the court held that “determining whether or not a particular prospective juror is acceptable on the basis of the answer to a single question involves not only an assessment of the answer given, but also an assessment of the demeanour and reaction of the prospective juror in answering the question”.
2The appeal is dismissed.
