Sydney Frances Rose Hopkins

Following convictions after a judge-alone trial for sexual assault, uttering threats, arson, and break and enter arising from intimate-partner violence incidents, the court determined a fit custodial sentence by balancing denunciation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and totality.

The court rejected a conditional sentence despite substantial post-offence rehabilitation and sobriety efforts, emphasizing the gravity of the sexual assault and intentional fire-setting.

The court imposed consecutive and concurrent terms, reduced the aggregate sentence under totality, and further reduced it for restrictive bail conditions in part.

The court declined to impose a Sex Offender Information Registration Act order under s. 490.012(3), finding it unnecessary on the facts.

The accused was charged with nine counts arising from two discrete incidents in May and June 2019 involving his former partner.

The Crown conceded two counts.

The court found the accused guilty of uttering threats (two counts), sexual assault, arson, and break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence.

The court acquitted on assault, break and enter with intent (May incident), uttering threats (June incident), and escape from lawful custody.

The defence of automatism based on substance abuse was rejected, as the court found the accused retained sufficient capacity to form the necessary intent for the offences.

The Ontario Court of Justice dismissed Morgan Lindo’s application for a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter, finding that although the total delay from the swearing of the Information to the last scheduled trial date exceeded the Jordan presumptive ceiling of 18 months for provincial court trials, the net delay after deducting defence delay was just under the ceiling.

The defence failed to demonstrate meaningful and sustained efforts to expedite the trial, including delays in correcting contact information, scheduling trial conferences, and filing the 11(b) application.

The Court emphasized the need for defence counsel to act reasonably and proactively to avoid unreasonable delay and held that the delay was not markedly longer than reasonably necessary given the case complexity and local backlog.

The defendant brought an application for a stay of proceedings under section 11(b) of the Charter due to unreasonable delay.

The total delay from the information being sworn (October 10, 2021) to the anticipated end of trial (April 18, 2024) was 922 days.

The court deducted 43 days for defence delay in scheduling a JPT and 14 days as an exceptional circumstance for trial scheduling due to the pandemic.

The court found no further defence delay for failing to proactively assert s. 11(b) rights, as the Crown had twice declined to prioritize the case.

Despite potential Covid-19 deductions, the net delay of 807 days (26.5 months) remained well above the 18-month Jordan ceiling for the Ontario Court of Justice.

A stay of proceedings was granted.

The court addressed a joint request from the Crown and defence for a ruling on the authority to conduct a criminal trial virtually via Zoom, allowing the accused to participate remotely.

The court found it had jurisdiction under s. 650(2)(b) of the Criminal Code, in conjunction with ss. 715.22-715.24, to permit the accused's absence from the physical courtroom under proper conditions, especially given the accused was represented by counsel and had provided a clear waiver.

The decision distinguished conflicting lower court jurisprudence regarding virtual appearances for self-represented versus represented accused and for pleas versus trials.