Stephanie Anne Farrell

Richard Trudeau pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

The Crown sought the maximum jail sentence, while the defence argued for a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO) due to the accused's Indigenous background and cognitive disability.

The court, applying Gladue principles and considering the victim's impact statement and the accused's personal circumstances, including his sincere remorse and commitment to sobriety, determined that an 18-month CSO followed by 24 months probation was appropriate.

The judge emphasized that incarceration would disproportionately harm the Indigenous offender and impede rehabilitation, aligning with the remedial purpose of s. 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code.

A 31-year-old mother pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life to her 18-month-old son, contrary to section 215(2)(a) of the Criminal Code, resulting in the child's death by drowning in a bathtub.

The mother left the child unsupervised while engaged in an 11-minute Facebook conversation.

The Crown sought a 9-month jail sentence; the defence sought a 4-month conditional sentence.

The court imposed 90 days jail to be served intermittently on weekends, plus 24 months probation, finding that actual incarceration was necessary to meet the objectives of denunciation and general deterrence, particularly given the aggravating circumstances involving abuse of a child and the emerging issue of distracted parenting through social media.

The applicants sought to quash subpoenas issued by the respondent, Laura Pinkerton, for her criminal trial on a charge of forcible entry.

Pinkerton intended to call witnesses to support her claim of entitlement to the property, arguing a long-standing conspiracy to divest her of it.

The court found that a person's entitlement to property is immaterial to a forcible entry charge under Section 72(1.1) of the Criminal Code, which focuses on preserving public peace and actual peaceable possession.

Furthermore, the evidence sought would constitute an impermissible collateral attack on prior court orders establishing possession.

As the proposed witnesses could not provide material evidence, the Justice of the Peace exceeded jurisdiction in issuing the subpoenas.

The subpoenas were quashed.

The applicant sought a stay of proceedings for criminal negligence causing death, alleging breaches of Charter sections 7, 11(d), and 11(b) due to pre-charge and post-charge delay.

The court found significant pre-charge delay (26 months and 23 days) and prejudice to the applicant, including the death of a material witness and the unfairness of sequential charges (provincial offence then criminal) arising from the same incident.

The court granted a stay of proceedings based on sections 7 and 11(d) of the Charter, finding an abuse of process.

The court also considered the s. 11(b) argument but would have dismissed it due to a re-calculation of defence delay, which would have brought the net delay below the presumptive ceiling.