Court of Appeal for Ontario
Citation: R. v. Grujic, 2012 ONCA 146
Date: 2012-03-07
Docket: C50975
Judges: Goudge, MacPherson and Juriansz JJ.A.
Between:
Her Majesty the Queen Respondent
and
Robert Grujic Appellant
Counsel:
Ariel Herscovitch and Sharon Jeethan, for the appellant
Matthew Asma, for the respondent
Heard: March 1, 2012
On appeal from the conviction entered on May 15, 2009 and the sentence imposed on July 6, 2009 by Justice Peter H. Howden of the Superior Court of Justice, sitting without a jury.
Appeal Book Endorsement
[1] The trial judge here undertook a careful analysis of the ways in which the offence he was trying was significantly similar to two other convenience store robberies. In our view he did not rely on factors that are so generic as to fail to point to signature features of the act. Nor did he confuse this task with his second task of determining the appellant’s linkage to each robbery. The conviction appeal is dismissed.
[2] The appellant raises three arguments on sentence. First, the appellant submits that the trial judge erred in failing to consider the absence of earned remission time in his presentence credit calculation. We disagree. The trial judge was clearly alive to this factor, but chose not to enhance pretrial credit on account of it. That was open to him.
[3] Second, the trial judge is said to have wrongly used the appellant’s breaches of probation to conclude that the appellant was resistant to rehabilitation. In our view this inference was open to him and does not constitute error.
[4] The third error alleged is in making consecutive the sentence for breach of probation. In our view the trial judge did receive submissions from defence counsel on this issue and did not err by declining to agree with them. Moreover the consideration of prior breaches of probation is a relevant consideration for this aspect of overall sentence as well as for the aspect relating to the gravity of the robbery. These aspects protect different societal interests.
[5] The sentence appeal is dismissed.