Court of Appeal for Ontario

CITATION: R. v. St. Martin, 2016 ONCA 482

DATE: 20160615

DOCKET: C61809

BEFORE: Feldman, Benotto and Miller J.A.

BETWEEN

Her Majesty the Queen

Respondent

and

Marc Denis St. Martin

Appellant

COUNSEL:

Marc Denis St. Martin, in person

Erika Chozik, duty counsel

Tracy Kozlowski, for the respondent

HEARD: June 6, 2016

On appeal from the conviction entered on January 25, 2016 and the sentence imposed on January 29, 2016 by Justice Gregory P. Rogers of the Ontario Court of Justice.

APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT

[1] The appellant appeals his conviction for aggravated assault, arguing that he should have been convicted only of the lesser offence of assault bodily harm. We do not agree.

[2] The trial judge was entitled to find on this record of 1-1.5 hours of beating the complainant on the face and head with a boot, causing severe swelling and bruising and long-lasting pain, choking her into unconsciousness and preventing her from screaming, that the assault endangered her life.

[3] The Crown concedes that the assault bodily harm conviction is duplicative and should be stayed.

[4] The appellant also appeals his sentence as being out of the range. We do not agree. The sentence of 38 months was well within the range for a vicious domestic assault that endangered the life of the victim. This was the appellant’s third conviction for assault of the same person, done contrary to a non-contact order and while taking drugs, again contrary to order.

[5] The conviction for assault bodily harm is stayed. The appeals against conviction and sentence are dismissed.