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 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.