Court File and Parties

Date: 2003-12-02 Docket: C38999 Court of Appeal for Ontario

Re: Her Majesty the Queen (Respondent) – and – Maria Bujtor (Appellant)

Before: McMurtry C.J.O., Laskin and Rosenberg JJ.A.

Counsel: Michael Doyle, for the appellant Karey Katzsch, for the respondent

Heard: November 24, 2003 Released Orally: November 24, 2003

On appeal from the judgment of Justice John A. MacDonald of the Superior Court of Justice dated October 4, 2002.

Endorsement

[1] The appellant appeals from the decision of MacDonald J. dismissing her appeal from conviction by Fernandez J. The appellant has no prior criminal record and we recognize the impact these convictions have had on her and her family. We have therefore carefully reviewed the transcripts of evidence, the reasons of MacDonald J. and Fernandez J. and the other material filed by the appellant. Unfortunately, we have determined that this appeal must be dismissed. Under the Criminal Code we have only a very limited jurisdiction and can only intervene where there are errors of law alone.

[2] None of the matters raised before us raise questions of law alone.

[3] The absence of the exhibits in this appeal did not prejudice the appellant. The exhibits are described on the record. None of the matters raised required that we actually see the exhibits.

[4] Questions of credibility are uniquely a matter for the trial judge. The trial judge was entitled to conclude that the appellant’s daughter’s evidence was of limited assistance for the reasons he gave. Any alleged errors at most involved questions of mixed fact and law. We do not agree that the trial judge simply judged Samantha’s evidence on the basis of negative stereotypes about children’s evidence.

[5] The procedure adopted at trial of a blended voir dire and trial was unusual but did not unfairly impact on the trial. The judge could not have been under any misconception that the defence conceded that the appellant’s statements were admissible.

[6] The misapprehension of the evidence of Officer Blakely that he tested the machine with a valid TTC token did not amount to an error of law since that piece of evidence played no part in the trial judge’s conclusions.

[7] We are satisfied that all of the parties understood where the coins, foreign and Canadian, were found. This issue in any event does not involve a question of law alone.

[8] The officer had grounds to arrest the appellant since he apparently found her committing the offence. The arrest was therefore lawful. The matters raised by Mr. Bujtor on his wife’s behalf do not cast any doubt on the lawfulness of the arrest or the validity of the convictions.

[9] Accordingly, leave to appeal is dismissed.

Signed: "R. Roy McMurtry CJO" "John Laskin J.A." "M. Rosenberg J.A."