COURT FILE NO.: CR-19-10000631-0000
DATE: 20201125
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN:
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Applicant
– and –
RICHARD ISAAC
Robert Wright and Tania Monteiro, for the Crown
Daniel Brodsky and Taro Inoue, for the Accused
HEARD: September 14 and 15, 2020
RULING ON THE ADMISSIBILITY OF TEXT MESSAGES SENT ON THE CELL PHONE OF THE DECEASED
B.P. O’Marra J.
[1] On June 12, 2018, Gary Readman made the horrific discovery of the badly-beaten and decomposing body of his twenty-seven-year-old daughter Victoria Selby-Readman. He found her in the apartment she had shared with the accused since mid-May 2018. The accused and the victim had not been involved in a romantic relationship.
[2] Gary Readman and his daughter communicated frequently through text messages. There were text messages sent to him from his daughter’s phone on June 8 and 9. The lack of text messages or phone calls on June 10 or 11 led him to go to her apartment to see how she was doing. He was admitted to her apartment by custodial staff.
[3] The verbatim text messages exchanged between Gary Readman (F) and the phone associated to his daughter (V) on June 8 and 9 were as follows:
June 8, 2018, at 5:06 p.m.
V- My roommate is drunk again can you come over I need support
F- Working now bb. Just go out and leave him. That is the best thing to do Drunks are hard to deal with
V- He’s so stupid I want him gone today
F- Wait till tomorrow Try to ignore him Go out and work
June 9, 2018, at 4:03 p.m.
F- Hey bb How are you today
V- Good actually He's taking me out for supper I asked him not to drink anymore and he agreed with me
F- Goodb Sometimes best to be patient
V- He’s a nice guy Just hate to see him drink over his ex
F- Yes agreed
V- Sh’'s not worth it and he’s only hurting himself
F- Booze gets you no where Sorry bb Working now
V- When he's sober he’s so kind and thoughtful This week he brought me home flowers He said that he saw them and thought of me and that the place needed some brightening up OK gonna get ready to go out for supper
F- Have fun at dinner
V- Thanks (followed by 8 smiley face emojis)
[4] The Crown sought to tender the content of the texts from the victim’s phone as evidence of her state of mind and also as relevant to the issue of the date of her death.
[5] The Supreme Court of Canada dealt with this issue in R. v. Starr, 2000 SCC 40, 2 S.C.R. 144 at paras. 168-169. An exception to the hearsay rule arises when the declarant’s statement is adduced to demonstrate the intention or state of mind of the declarant at the time the statement was made. Such statements are admitted to support an inference that the declarant followed through on the intended course of action, provided it is reasonable on the evidence for the trier of fact to infer the declarant did so. There are certain inferences that may not permissibly be drawn from such evidence. For example, it is not permissible to infer the state of mind of someone other than the declarant. Such evidence is also not admissible to establish that past acts or events referred to in the utterances occurred.
[6] The text messages sent on the victim’s phone on June 8 are admissible and relevant to her state of mind and intention at the time. They are specifically evidence of her desire or intent that the accused move out of the apartment that they shared. The texts on June 9 are also admissible as they provide further context to her intentions. The texts of both dates are also relevant to but not determinative of the date of her death.
O’Marra J.
B.P. O’MARRA J.
Released: November 25, 2020
COURT FILE NO.: CR-19-10000631-0000
DATE: 20201125
ONTARIO
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN:
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Applicant
– and –
RICHARD ISAAC
Ruling on the admissibility of text messages sent on the cell phone of the deceased
B.P.O’MARRA J.
Released: November 25, 2020