Court of Appeal for Ontario

Date: 2023-09-11 Docket: C70428

Before: Trotter, Thorburn and Favreau JJ.A.

Between: His Majesty the King Respondent

And: Iftikhar Khan Appellant

Counsel: Fredrick Schumann, appearing as duty counsel Caitlin Sharawy, for the respondent

Heard and released orally: September 5, 2023 by video conference

On appeal from the conviction entered on February 18, 2022 and the sentence imposed on February 18, 2022 by Justice Joe P.P. Fiorucci of the Ontario Court of Justice.

Reasons for Decision

[1] Mr. Khan entered a plea of guilty to one count of uttering threats under s. 246.1(a) of the Criminal Code; eight other counts were withdrawn. The sentencing judge accepted a joint submission and sentenced Mr. Khan to one more day in jail, in light of 20 days of pre-sentence custody credited at a rate of 1.5:1, followed by 12 months probation.

[2] Mr. Khan seeks to withdraw his guilty plea. In his affidavit in support of this ground of appeal, Mr. Khan claims that he was pressured into pleading guilty because he was in custody, having failed to obtain bail.

[3] Mr. Khan swears that he entered his plea because he could not afford to pay a lawyer to represent him at a full trial. Submissions were made on Mr. Khan’s behalf on both of these issues. In the same affidavit, Mr. Khan challenges the decision of the judge who refused to grant him bail. He alleges that this judge was biased against him. No submissions were made on these issues.

[4] In our view, this is not an appropriate case to permit Mr. Khan to withdraw his plea. When he pleaded guilty, Mr. Khan was represented by counsel. Before accepting his plea, the trial judge conducted a plea comprehension inquiry to determine whether the plea was informed. Although we note that the trial judge did not specifically ask Mr. Khan whether his plea was voluntary, he did canvas that issue with trial counsel. Moreover, Mr. Khan voiced no concerns at the time, nor did he complain later in the proceedings when interacting with the sentencing judge. Through counsel he acknowledged that the allegations read in at the time were correct.

[5] There are no doubt pressures involved when entering a plea of guilty, especially when the person entering the plea is detained in custody. And while Mr. Khan may have been subject to certain pressures, this is not sufficient to cast doubt on the voluntariness of his plea. The transcript reflects a clear, unequivocal and informed waiver of his constitutional right to have a trial. The appeal to withdraw his guilty plea is dismissed.

[6] Although the appellant appealed his sentence, the sentence has been served. No submissions were made on the matter. The appeal against sentence is dismissed.

[7] The appeal is dismissed.

"Gary Trotter J.A."

"Thorburn J.A."

"L. Favreau J.A."