R. Peter Napier

The appellant challenged his conviction for indecent assault and a sentence of two years less one day arising from prolonged historic sexual abuse of his stepdaughter.

The principal issue on conviction concerned refusal of third-party therapeutic records under the post-Bill C-46 production regime in the Criminal Code.

Applying the Supreme Court's decision in Mills, the court held the request was supported only by speculative assertions and lacked a case-specific evidentiary foundation for likely relevance.

The court also rejected an attack on the trial judge's credibility assessment based on the complainant's differential memory of incidents, and dismissed the sentence appeal after granting leave.

The appellant, serving a 12-year sentence for manslaughter, was originally entitled to release on mandatory supervision after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Prior to his release, the Parole Act was amended to allow the Commissioner of Corrections to refer inmates to the National Parole Board if there were reasonable grounds to believe they would commit an offence causing death or serious harm.

The Commissioner referred the appellant's case, and the Board ordered his continued detention.

The appellant challenged the amendment under section 7 of the Charter.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that while the amendment deprived the appellant of a liberty interest, it did not violate the principles of fundamental justice, as it struck a fair balance between the prisoner's interests and the protection of society.