Unlock 6 more sections of this judge’s background. Start your 7-day free trial.
5 total
Accused found guilty of firearms offences; self-defence claim rejected due to bystander risk.
The accused was charged with multiple firearms offences following a daytime shootout in downtown Hamilton.
The Crown relied on circumstantial evidence, including cell phone videos, clothing, and the recovery of the firearm near the accused's arrest location, to establish identity.
The court found the circumstantial evidence cumulatively proved the accused was the shooter beyond a reasonable doubt.
The court rejected the accused's claim of self-defence, finding that discharging a firearm in a busy residential area was not an objectively reasonable response.
The accused was found guilty on all counts.
Stay denied despite Charter breaches from delayed post-arrest attendance before a justice.
In a criminal Charter motion, the accused sought a stay of proceedings after being arrested on an outstanding warrant and not being brought before the issuing jurisdiction for approximately three months.
Interpreting Criminal Code ss. 514, 511(4), 511(1)(c), and 503(1), the court held that the warrant was executed upon arrest and that police were required to bring the accused before a justice without unreasonable delay.
The court rejected the Crown’s position that execution occurred only at the later Hamilton bail appearance and found breaches of ss. 7 and 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Applying the stay framework in Regan and Babos, the court found no demonstrated prejudice to trial fairness or to the integrity of the justice system in the specific circumstances, including parallel lawful detention on other charges.
The application for a stay was therefore dismissed.
Stepfather sentenced to 16 years for prolonged sexual abuse of two stepdaughters and making child pornography.
Sentencing for multiple sexual offences against children, including two counts of sexual interference, one count of sexual exploitation, four counts of making child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.
The offender, in a position of trust as stepfather, sexually abused two stepdaughters over a period exceeding six years, commencing when the victims were 9 and 11 years of age.
The abuse escalated in severity and frequency and included video-recording of the sexual assaults.
The court applied the principles from R. v. Friesen, 2020 SCC 9, prioritizing denunciation and deterrence as paramount sentencing objectives, and considered the significant aggravating factors including breach of trust, duration and frequency of offending, the creation of child sexual abuse material, and the severe impact on the victims.
A global sentence of 16 years imprisonment less enhanced pre-sentence custody credit was imposed, along with ancillary orders including lifetime SOIRA, DNA order, firearms prohibition, s. 161 order, and non-communication order.
Motion to exclude evidence dismissed; passive receipt of an IP address is not a search.
The applicant, charged with possessing and accessing child pornography, brought a motion to exclude evidence obtained through a production order and search warrant, alleging breaches of his s. 8 Charter rights.
The applicant argued the initial receipt of the IP address constituted a warrantless search, the search warrant lacked evidential basis, and the search was conducted unreasonably as a copy of the warrant was not provided.
The court dismissed the application, finding the passive receipt of an IP address from the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre was not a search, the production order and search warrant were properly issued, and the search was conducted reasonably under the applicable law at the time.
An addict trafficker received a conditional sentence for selling fentanyl that caused a fatal overdose.
The accused pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl, a Schedule I substance, after a friend died from consuming the drug he sold.
The Crown sought a six-year custodial sentence, emphasizing the victim's death and the dangerous nature of fentanyl.
The defence sought a conditional sentence of two years less a day, highlighting the accused's status as an addict trafficker, his significant rehabilitative efforts, early guilty plea, and compliance with strict bail conditions.
The court imposed a conditional sentence of two years less a day, followed by three years probation, including house arrest, a DNA order, and a 10-year weapons prohibition.
The decision distinguished between commercial traffickers and addict traffickers, emphasizing rehabilitation and the principle of proportionality.
