COURT FILE NO.: CRIMJ(P) 3882/09 and 1536/11
DATE: 20121213
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO
RE: R. v. Kelvin Earl McPherson
BEFORE: Baltman J.
E N D O R S E M E N T
[1] On November 2, 2012, Mr. McPherson was convicted by a jury of procuring a person to become a prostitute and exercising control over a prostitute, pursuant to s. 212 of the Criminal Code. In addition, in a related matter, he previously pled guilty to uttering threats.
[2] Mr. McPherson is awaiting sentence on all three of these charges. Although he resides in Montreal all the proceedings were conducted in Brampton, Ontario, before me, and in English. On November 2, 2012, immediately following the jury’s verdict, I scheduled the sentencing to proceed before me on January 10th, 2013 and ordered a Pre-Sentence Report to be delivered to counsel and the court “by no later than January 3rd, 2013”.
[3] On November 13, 2012, I received a letter, in French, from Lisette Charland, a probation officer based in Montreal. She advised that due to a backlog in her region PSR’s generally require twelve to thirteen weeks for completion, and therefore Mr. McPherson’s report could not be produced until February 11, 2013.
[4] Section 720 of the Code provides a “court shall, as soon as practicable after an offender has been found guilty, conduct proceedings to determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed.” A time period exceeding three months from the date of conviction for the completion of a PSR is well beyond the usual 6 to 8 week range frequently accommodated in Brampton, one of the busiest courthouses in the country. Moreover, the court’s direction of November 2nd, 2012, was a court order in a federal proceeding, not a request subject to the convenience or efficiencies of a particular provincial probation service.
[5] That said, given the intervening Christmas break and the absence of any objection from counsel, I have proceeded to reschedule the sentencing for February 20th, 2013. This required considerable re-juggling of schedules by counsel and me, with submissions to proceed at 8:30 a.m. (rather than the usual start time of 10:00 a.m.) on February 20th in order to accommodate other trial commitments previously made for that day by counsel and me.
[6] I write now to reinforce that while the court has indulged the request for an extended delivery date, the court expects that the PSR will arrive by no later than February 11, 2013, in English. This proceeding was not a bilingual or French language trial. I do not know whether Mr. McPherson is bilingual, but he chose to have his trial in English and I am not aware that either Crown or Defence counsel is bilingual. If the report arrives in French it will be of no assistance to them and will cause further delay and expense while awaiting translation.
[7] For clarity, the Superior Court of Justice Trial Coordinator shall forthwith send a copy of this endorsement to the Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services Ontario. While it may be that the probation services unit within Ontario regularly delegates preparation of a PSR relating to an out-of-province resident to the provincial government of an offender’s residency, the Ontario government remains obliged to discharge its obligations pursuant to s. 721 of the Criminal Code. I therefore expect that Ontario will communicate this endorsement to the responsible official in Quebec and insure that the order is satisfied.
[8] It is hereby confirmed that it is ordered that the PSR is to be completed and filed with the court on or before February 11, 2013, in English. If necessary, the court will take whatever further coercive or punitive measures necessary to enforce its order.
Baltman J.
DATE: December 13, 2012
COURT FILE NO.: CRIMJ(P) 3882/09 and 1536/11
DATE: 20121213
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO
RE: R. v. Kelvin Earl McPherson
BEFORE: Baltman J.
ENDORSEMENT
Baltman J.
DATE: December 13, 2012