The appellant appealed his convictions for discharging a firearm with intent to wound or prevent arrest and attempted murder, and his sentence.
The charges arose from a violent encounter with police where the appellant fired shots at officers during an arrest attempt.
The trial judge rejected the appellant's self-defence claim, finding he was lawfully arrested, used unreasonable force, and had no reasonable grounds to believe the police were acting unlawfully.
On appeal, the court found no error in the trial judge's credibility findings or the rejection of self-defence, including the assessment of the appellant's subjective fear of police.
The court also upheld the sentence, finding the trial judge properly considered the collateral consequences of the appellant's injuries (sustained during arrest) as not mitigating, given they flowed from his own conduct.
Furthermore, the court found the trial judge adequately weighed anti-Black racism and mental health issues as slight mitigators, and correctly applied principles regarding "Duncan credit" for pre-sentence custody.
Both the conviction and sentence appeals were dismissed.
