2 total
Dangerous driving conviction upheld; no reviewable error in trial judge's reasoning.
The appellant was convicted of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and appealed on the ground that the trial judge erred in assessing the evidence, rendering the verdict unreasonable.
The majority of the Quebec Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction.
The Supreme Court of Canada examined the trial judge's oral reasons to determine whether the verdict was vitiated by illogical or irrational reasoning within the meaning of R. v. Beaudry and R. v. Sinclair.
The Court found no reviewable error, as the trial judge's inference was based on the whole of the evidence, including the complainant's testimony about the position of her car at the time of the collision.
The appeal was unanimously dismissed.
Consecutive parole ineligibility periods for multiple murders violate Charter s. 12.
The appellant Crown sought to uphold s. 745.51 of the Criminal Code, which authorized courts to impose consecutive 25-year parole ineligibility periods for each count of first degree murder.
The respondent, convicted of six counts of first degree murder in the Quebec City mosque attack of January 29, 2017, challenged the constitutionality of the provision.
The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, holding that s. 745.51 violates s. 12 of the Charter because it effectively authorizes imprisonment for life without a realistic possibility of parole, which is degrading in nature and intrinsically incompatible with human dignity.
The provision was declared of no force or effect immediately and retroactively to its enactment in 2011, resulting in the respondent serving his six 25-year parole ineligibility periods concurrently for a total ineligibility period of 25 years.
