R. v. Pittman, [1994] 1 S.C.R. 148

Gregory William Pittman Appellant

v.

Her Majesty the Queen Respondent

Indexed as: R. v. Pittman

File No.: 23436.

1994: January 28.

Present: La Forest, Sopinka, Gonthier, Cory and Iacobucci JJ.

on appeal from the nova scotia supreme court, appeal division

Criminal law ‑‑ Trial ‑‑ Charge to jury ‑‑ Trial judge failing to give Vetrovec warning to jury ‑‑ No question of law raised ‑‑ Supreme Court of Canada having no jurisdiction to entertain appeal as of right ‑‑ No miscarriage of justice.

Cases Cited

Referred to: Vetrovec v. The Queen, 1982 20 (SCC), [1982] 1 S.C.R. 811.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Appeal Division (1993), 1993 NSCA 29, 117 N.S.R. (2d) 271, 78 C.C.C. (3d) 385, dismissing the accused's appeal from his conviction on a charge of second degree murder. Appeal dismissed.

Allan F. Nicholson and Patricia Fricker, for the appellant.

Dana Giovannetti, for the respondent.

The judgment of the Court was delivered orally by

Sopinka J. ‑‑ This is an appeal as of right. The basis of the dissent of Jones J.A. in the Court of Appeal is whether a warning pursuant to Vetrovec v. The Queen, 1982 20 (SCC), [1982] 1 S.C.R. 811, was appropriate in the circumstances of this case. This does not raise a question of law although failure to give a warning in some circumstances may constitute a miscarriage of justice. The appellant, therefore, does not have an appeal as of right to this Court.

Having heard the appellant on the merits, however, we are of the view that, even if the Court had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal, we would dismiss it. In the circumstances of this case, failure to give a Vetrovec warning to the jury did not result in a miscarriage of justice.

The appeal is, therefore, dismissed.

Judgment accordingly.

Solicitor for the appellant: Allan F. Nicholson, Sydney.

Solicitor for the respondent: The Attorney General of Nova Scotia, Halifax.