Sharon L. Murphy

The Crown appealed the acquittal of the respondent on four counts of uttering death threats.

The trial judge had dismissed the charges, finding that the Crown had not established the actus reus or mens rea, concluding that the statements were "crazy talk" or "blowing off steam" given the respondent's physical injuries and mental state.

The appellate court dismissed the Crown's appeal, upholding the trial judge's findings, emphasizing the deference owed to a trial judge's factual assessments and application of legal standards to facts, and finding no palpable and overriding error.

In a child protection status review application, the respondent father sought an order granting access to the child for himself and for non-parties (the paternal aunt and paternal uncle).

The maternal grandparents, who had been granted custody of the child, opposed the access order for the non-parties, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction to grant access to persons who were not parties to the proceeding.

The court determined that it had jurisdiction to make access orders under section 58 of the Child and Family Services Act within the ongoing status review application, and that it was not a prerequisite for granting access that a person be a party to the proceeding.

The court found no unfairness to the maternal grandparents, as they had full notice of the paternal relatives' claims through active case management and disclosure.

The respondent mother brought a motion to remove Mark Hurley as counsel of record for the Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society in a pending status review proceeding involving four children.

The motion was based on a conflict of interest arising from the fact that Hurley's law partner, Frank Philcox, had previously represented the respondent mother in protection proceedings involving the same children.

The court found that a solicitor-and-client relationship existed between the mother and Philcox, that confidential information was shared, and that insufficient safeguards were in place to protect the mother's solicitor-client privilege.

The court granted the motion and ordered Hurley's removal from the file.