Court of Appeal for Ontario

Date: 20210316 Docket: C68173

Before: Tulloch, Huscroft and Thorburn JJ.A.

Between: Her Majesty the Queen, Respondent and Crystal Joanne Antoine, Appellant

Counsel: Crystal Joanne Antoine, acting in person Gerald Chan, appearing as duty counsel Kerry Benzakein, for the respondent

Heard and released orally: March 9, 2021 by video conference

On appeal from the conviction entered and sentence imposed on December 24, 2019 by Justice Alain H. Perron of the Ontario Court of Justice.

Reasons for Decision

[1] On December 24, 2019, the appellant Crystal Joanne Antoine pled guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking 171 pills of methamphetamine, four counts of failure to comply with the conditions of her probation, five counts of failure to comply with the terms of her recognizance, and two counts of failure to attend court.

[2] She did so after her counsel advised the Court that he had conducted a pre‑plea inquiry, and the appellant confirmed that her plea was voluntary. The trial judge reminded her of the implications of pleading guilty and she confirmed that she understood and wished to plead guilty to all charges.

[3] The judge then considered the possibility of a conditional sentence but decided that a conditional sentence would be inappropriate because of the appellant’s serious addiction and her failure to comply with many court orders. He told her that in order to be enrolled in the drug treatment plan, she was required to serve a sentence of at least 9 months and advised that he would impose a sentence of 9 months in custody. She then agreed to be enrolled in the drug treatment plan. He did not address the Gladue principles as he was not told the appellant was Indigenous.

[4] The appellant was sentenced to 9 months in custody on the drug trafficking offence and an additional 30 days for breach of the court orders.

[5] She appeals both her conviction and sentence.

[6] At the hearing, the Crown submitted that the sentence should be reduced to 6 months in light of the fact that the Gladue principles were not addressed. The appellant also informed the court that she was abandoning her conviction appeal. The appellant agrees with the Crown’s submission to reduce the sentence.

[7] In view of the sentencing judge’s failure to apply the Gladue principles as set out in s. 718.2 (e) of the Criminal Code, as he was required to do, the sentence will be reduced to six months.

[8] Leave to appeal sentence is therefore granted and the sentence is reduced to 6 months. The appeal from conviction is dismissed as abandoned.

"M. Tulloch J.A."

"Grant Huscroft J.A."

"J.A. Thorburn J.A."