Court of Appeal for Ontario

R. v. Morin

Date: 2000-09-14

None disclosed.

(Court No. C31876)

[1] By the Court: We accept the findings of fact made by Carnwath, J.

[2] It is accepted that the delay of some 4 years 5 months was prima facie unreasonable. While one may disagree with some parts of Cornwath's, J.'s, assessments of responsibility for delays following Oct 4, 1997 [Oct. 7, 1994] there can be no doubt (and the Crown accepts) that there could not have been a trial for slightly over three years regardless of the accused's attitude toward going for trial or his readiness for trial.

[3] Even though this was a complicated "paper" case the Crown should have been ready for trial well before Oct. 1997.

[4] The delay attributable to the Crown plus the actual prejudice suffered by the respondent combine to make this an appropriate case for a stay both with respect to the respondent and the corporate accused.

[5] Appeal dismissed.

Appeal dismissed