Court File and Parties

Court of Appeal for Ontario Date: 2023-02-15 Docket: M53517

Before: Feldman, Thorburn and Coroza JJ.A.

Between: His Majesty the King, Respondent and Kweku Kuffuor, Appellant

Counsel: Kweku Kuffuor, appearing in person Jeffrey Wyngaarden, for the respondent

Heard and released orally: February 7, 2023

On application for leave to appeal from the judgment of Justice Catherine D. Aitken of the Superior Court of Justice, dated January 18, 2022, dismissing the appeal from the summary conviction entered by Justice Marlyse Dumel of the Ontario Court of Justice, dated May 12, 2021.

Reasons for Decision

[1] The appellant seeks leave to appeal from the dismissal of his appeal by the Summary Conviction Appeal court from his conviction for driving with a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit. He was sentenced to a $1,000 fine and 12 month driving prohibition.

[2] The test for granting leave to appeal in a summary conviction matter is well-established. Leave should be granted sparingly, and it is restricted to a question of law alone. Two factors are generally considered: 1) the significance of the legal issues raised to the general administration of criminal justice, and 2) the merits of the proposed grounds of appeal: see R. v. R. (R.), 2008 ONCA 497, 90 O.R. (3d) 641.

[3] In our view, the appellant does not meet the test set out by this court in R. (R.). The Summary Conviction Appeal court judge gave detailed reasons for rejecting most of the issues raised by the appellant. Furthermore, the Crown claims that the appellant has raised new grounds of appeal for the first time in this court. In our view, it is not appropriate for us to deal with these grounds, and, in any event, these grounds do not meet the R. (R.) test.

[4] For these reasons, leave to appeal is denied.

"K. Feldman J.A." "J.A. Thorburn J.A." "S. Coroza J.A."