Perrie Marie Douglas

Wesley Berman was charged with aggravated assault after stabbing Jordan Stiles during a confrontation over a dog.

Stiles had refused to return the dog despite a court order.

Berman claimed self-defence, stating Stiles attacked him.

The court assessed the credibility of both parties and the elements of self-defence under s. 34(1) of the Criminal Code.

The judge found Stiles' testimony unreliable and accepted Berman's account that he was attacked and used the knife in self-defence.

The Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Berman did not act in lawful self-defence, leading to an acquittal.

The offender, a teacher, was found guilty of sexual exploitation of a student.

At sentencing, the offender brought a Charter challenge arguing that the mandatory minimum sentence of one year under s. 153 of the Criminal Code constituted cruel and unusual punishment under s. 12.

The court dismissed the constitutional challenge, finding the mandatory minimum was not grossly disproportionate given the breach of trust, grooming, and post-offence conduct.

The offender was sentenced to 18 months in jail followed by 12 months of probation, along with ancillary orders.

The appellant appealed his conviction and sentence for attempted murder, unlawful confinement, uttering death threats, and assaulting a police officer.

Although he pleaded guilty, he advanced a mental disorder defence seeking a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

The trial judge rejected the NCR defence and imposed a sentence of 20 years imprisonment.

On appeal, the appellant sought leave to appeal sentence, contending it was manifestly unfit and that insufficient weight was given to his mental illness as a mitigating factor.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal from conviction as abandoned and dismissed the appeal from sentence, finding the 20-year sentence was not manifestly unfit and that the trial judge had appropriately considered the appellant's mental condition.