Supreme Court of Canada

Bennett v. R., [1982] 2 S.C.R. 582

Date: 1982-11-02

Richard Clifford Bennett (Plaintiff) Appellant;

and

Her Majesty The Queen (Defendant) Respondent.

File No.: 16494.

1982: October 13; 1982: November 2.

Present: Ritchie, Dickson, Beetz, Estey, Mclntyre, Chouinard and Wilson JJ.

ON APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO.

Criminal law—Sentence—Conviction of second degree murder on an indictment of first degree murder without the intervention of a jury—Trial judge increasing parole ineligibility period—Criminal Code, s. 671.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario pronounced on February 2, 1981, dismissing appellant’s appeal against sentence. Appeal dismissed.

Clayton C. Ruby, for the appellant.

David Watt, for the respondent.

THE COURT—We are all of the opinion, for the reasons stated by the Court of Appeal of Ontario, that that Court did not err in law in deciding that a person can plead guilty to and be convicted of the lesser and included offence of second degree murder on an indictment of first degree murder, without the intervention of the jury.

We did not find it necessary to call upon the respondent with respect to the second ground of appeal, namely, that the trial judge had failed to apply proper principles in arriving at the 15‑year ineligibility period. In our opinion this question is not an appropriate one for determination in this Court.

This appeal is accordingly dismissed.

Appeal dismissed.

Solicitors for the appellant: Ruby & Edwardh, Toronto.

Solicitor for the respondent: The Ministry of the Attorney General for Ontario.