Rebecca Griffin

The applicant, charged with first degree murder, applied for release on bail.

The Crown's case relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and a confession made to the applicant's former common-law spouse.

The court found that the applicant met his onus on the primary, secondary, and tertiary grounds under s. 515 of the Criminal Code.

The applicant was released on a recognizance with two sureties pledging significant equity, strict house arrest conditions, and GPS electronic monitoring.

The appellant appealed his conviction for assault with a weapon, arguing the trial judge erred in assessing the complainant's credibility, compartmentalizing the credibility analysis between the assault and acquitted sexual assault charges, and improperly using the timing of the complainant's call to police as corroboration.

The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the appeal, finding that the trial judge properly used the timing of the complaint as part of the narrative to assess credibility, did not compartmentalize the analysis, and made findings of fact that were available on the evidence.

The accused brought a Charter application alleging a violation of s. 8 after police accessed and downloaded data from the airbag control module (ACM) of his vehicle without a warrant following a fatal motor vehicle collision.

The court held that the accused had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data stored on the vehicle’s onboard computer and that the police conduct in entering the vehicle, cutting the flooring, and imaging the data constituted an unreasonable warrantless search.

However, applying the framework under s. 24(2) of the Charter, the court concluded that admission of the evidence would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

The breach was moderate, the evidence was reliable and real, and society’s interest in adjudicating a fatal dangerous driving charge on its merits was high.