Paul Kenney

The accused was tried on charges of assault causing bodily harm, impaired operation of a conveyance, and operating a conveyance with a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit.

The charges arose after the accused crashed his ATV near the complainant's property and subsequently engaged in a physical altercation with the complainant over riding ATVs on the farmland.

The court rejected the accused's claim of self-defence, finding him to be the primary aggressor who struck the complainant unprovoked.

The court also rejected the accused's defence of post-driving alcohol consumption, finding his evidence of drinking after the incident implausible and contradicted by expert evidence.

The accused was found guilty on all three counts.

The Crown applied for a bail review of a Justice of the Peace's decision to release the accused.

The Crown argued the Justice of the Peace erred by applying the 'ladder principle' in a reverse-onus bail hearing.

The Superior Court agreed that this was an error of law and that the decision was clearly inappropriate.

Reconsidering the bail issues, the court found that the accused, who had an extensive criminal record and a history of breaching court orders, failed to meet his onus on the secondary grounds.

The release order was vacated and the accused was ordered detained.

The Crown applied under s. 521(1) of the Criminal Code for a review of a Justice of the Peace's decision to release the accused on strict conditions.

The Crown argued the Justice of the Peace erred in considering the rareness of detention on the tertiary ground as a guiding principle and in giving inappropriate weight to electronic monitoring and COVID-19 delays.

The court found no error in the Justice of the Peace's analysis regarding the tertiary ground or the weight given to electronic monitoring and COVID-19's impact on trial delays.

The Crown's application was dismissed, and the accused's release was maintained.