Ray

The appellant appealed his convictions, arguing that the trial judge breached his right to be present at his trial under s. 650(1) of the Criminal Code by holding in-chambers discussions about a Parks challenge and having private conversations with potential jurors.

The Court of Appeal held that the in-chambers discussions were preliminary and did not breach the Code.

While the private discussions with potential jurors did breach s. 650(1), the court applied the curative proviso under s. 686(1)(b)(iv), finding that the appellant suffered no prejudice as his counsel was present, no objections were raised, and all jurors spoken to privately were excused.

The appellant appealed his conviction for sexual assault and his sentence as a dangerous offender.

He argued the trial judge made several errors in his jury instructions, including failing to charge on the mens rea of consent and improperly instructing on prior consistent statements.

He also argued the sentencing judge committed a Johnson error by failing to consider a long term offender designation before imposing a dangerous offender designation.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal, finding no errors in the jury charge.

The sentence appeal was also dismissed, as the court found no reasonable possibility that a long term offender designation would have been imposed given the expert evidence of the appellant's high risk to reoffend.