S.T. applied for a stay of proceedings, arguing that his right to be tried within a reasonable time under s. 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated due to delay.
The total delay from the information being sworn to the anticipated end of trial was 955 days (31 months and 12 days).
The Crown argued for 468 days of defence delay, which would bring the net delay below the 18-month presumptive ceiling for the Ontario Court of Justice.
The court attributed 36 days of defence delay for not scheduling a Crown Pre-trial (CPT) earlier despite sufficient initial disclosure, 175 days for not proceeding with a Judicial Pre-trial (JPT) due to missing videotaped disclosure (which the court found was not essential to move the case forward), and 257 days for defence unavailability for earlier trial dates offered by the Crown.
The total defence delay was calculated as 468 days, resulting in a net delay of 487 days (16.01 months), which is below the 18-month presumptive ceiling.
The court found that the defence did not demonstrate a sustained effort to expedite the proceedings.
The application for a stay was dismissed.
