Court of Appeal for Ontario

Date: 2019-05-22 Docket: C65841

Judges: Doherty, Benotto and Huscroft JJ.A.

Between

Her Majesty the Queen Respondent

and

Malgorzata Szpyrka Appellant

Counsel

Leo Adler, for the appellant

Ildiko Erdei and Christopher Greene, for the respondent

Heard and Released Orally

May 14, 2019

Appeal Information

On appeal from the judgment of Justice Tausendfreund of the Superior Court of Justice, dated August 29, 2018, dismissing certiorari, upholding the order of Justice S. Hunter of the Ontario Court of Justice, dated December 7, 2017, committing the appellant to stand trial on both counts.

Reasons for Decision

[1] The appellant was committed for trial on charges of possession of marihuana for the purpose of trafficking and cultivating marihuana. An application to quash the committal by way of certiorari was dismissed: see 2018 ONSC 5114. This is an appeal from that dismissal.

[2] The scope of review of a committal order on a certiorari application is very narrow. Certiorari is available to quash a committal for trial only if there is no evidence capable of supporting the committal order. The reviewing judge does not consider the reasonableness of the committing decision, or engage in his or her own analysis of whether the evidence justified a committal under s. 548 of the Criminal Code: see R. v. Wilson, 2016 ONCA 235, at paras. 20-28; R. v. Jackson, 2016 ONCA 736, at para. 16.

[3] In upholding the committal for trial, the reviewing judge arguably went too far by considering the reasonableness of the inferences drawn by the preliminary inquiry judge: see paras. 26-29, 36. If the reviewing judge did go too far, that error benefited the appellant. Even on a somewhat expanded review standard, the reviewing judge refused to quash the committal.

[4] In our view, there was evidence which supported the inference that the appellant was working at the commercial grow-op on the day she was arrested. The evidence, considered as a whole, constituted some evidence that she was involved as a party in the offences alleged against her. As there was some evidence, the certiorari application was properly dismissed.

[5] The appeal is dismissed.

"Doherty J.A."

"M.L. Benotto J.A."

"Grant Huscroft J.A."