R. v. Elias, [1989] 1 S.C.R. 423
Edward Elias Appellant
v.
Her Majesty The Queen Respondent
Indexed as: R. v. Elias
File No.: 20168.
1989: March 17.
Present: Lamer, La Forest, L'Heureux‑Dubé, Gonthier and Cory JJ.
on appeal from the court of appeal for quebec
Criminal law ‑‑ Criminal liability ‑‑ Evidence ‑‑ Unlawful use of a credit card obtained by the commission of an offense.
APPEAL as of right from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal (1986), 4 Q.A.C. 74, dismissing an appeal from a conviction of unlawful use of a credit card. Appeal dismissed.
Christian Desrosiers, for the appellant.
Claude Haccoun and Michel Denis, for the respondent.
English version of the judgment of the Court delivered orally by
Lamer J. ‑‑ We are now ready to render judgment. We are all in agreement with Chouinard J.A. when he says:
[translation] Even assuming that possession of the said card was initially innocent, it has to be admitted that at some point prior to its use the accused chose to keep it wrongfully, hence his possession by the commission of an offence. He could subsequently have dealt with it, by continuing the possession he knew to be unlawful or by using it. He chose to use it to unlawfully obtain goods.
There is no reason why possession that is initially innocent cannot later become unlawful.
((1986), 4 Q.A.C. 74, at pp. 76‑77.)
For this reason we feel this appeal should be dismissed, and it is dismissed.
Judgment accordingly.
Solicitors for the appellant: Desrosiers, Provost, Taillefer, Groulx, Turcotte & Associés, Montréal.
Solicitor for the respondent: The Crown Prosecutor, Montréal.