Court of Appeal for Ontario
Before: Hoy A.C.J.O., Rosenberg and Sharpe JJ.A.
Between:
Her Majesty the Queen Respondent
and
Charles Street Appellant
Counsel:
Charles Street, in person Emily Morton, duty counsel Riun Shandler, for the respondent
Heard and released orally: September 10, 2013
On appeal from the conviction entered on October 5, 2012 and the sentence imposed on October 5, 2012 by Justice Diane M. Lahaie of the Ontario Court of Justice.
ENDORSEMENT
1The conviction for robbery as opposed to simple attempted theft depended upon the evidence of the victim that the appellant threatened him with a needle. The appellant in submissions before us denies that he had possession of a needle. However, the appellant did not testify at trial. The fact that no needle was found was dealt with at length by the trial judge. She accepted the victim’s evidence, explaining why she did so.
2The appellant also makes submissions that the trial was unfair. The record does not support this submission. The fact that the victim may have been reluctant to testify and asked for the assistance of an interpreter did not render the trial unfair.
3The appeal from conviction is dismissed.
4As to sentence, the trial judge made brief reference to the appellant’s aboriginal heritage based on the material before her. Although the trial judge had little information about this heritage, she did have considerable information about the appellant’s background, in particular, the central concern of the appellant’s serious addiction issues and his difficulty in dealing with his addiction.
5The trial judge also had information about the appellant’s very difficult childhood. Finally, she had the evidence of Ms. Mathias.
6We are satisfied that the trial judge gave appropriate weight to the appellant’s background. On the findings of the trial judge, this was a serious offence. There were few mitigating factors. There was no error in principle and the sentence was fit.
7While leave to appeal sentence is granted, the appeal from sentence is dismissed.
“Alexandra Hoy A.C.J.O.”
“M. Rosenberg J.A.”
“Robert J. Sharpe J.A.”