T. Hill

The accused, a police officer, was charged with fraud over $5,000 for his role in an elaborate scheme that defrauded his brother of $750,000.

The scheme, orchestrated with the accused's girlfriend, involved a fake civil lawsuit, a fictitious trust fund, and a fabricated cancer diagnosis.

The accused claimed he was an innocent agent who believed his girlfriend's lies.

The court rejected his testimony, finding he actively participated in deceiving his brother and was, at the very least, wilfully blind to the numerous red flags.

The accused was found guilty.

The defendants brought a motion to dismiss charges for alleged violations of Town of Fort Erie By-Law 129-90 regarding the use of a public storage facility and cargo containers on their properties.

The defendants argued that the prosecution constituted an abuse of process because similar charges had been brought against them on multiple prior occasions that were resolved in their favour, and that the Town was therefore estopped from continuing the prosecution.

The court rejected the motion, finding no evidence of bad faith, discrimination, or vexatiousness on the part of the Town.

The court held that a prior dismissal in 2013 did not preclude the municipality from ongoing enforcement of zoning by-law violations, and that the defence of legal non-conforming use remained a matter for adjudication at trial.

The moving parties sought an order requiring the responding party, a franchisee corporation, to post security for costs in relation to a counterclaim and third party proceedings arising from a franchise dispute.

The court considered Rule 56.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure and whether the circumstances justified ordering security for costs against the counterclaim plaintiff.

The court held that the third parties were not entitled to security for costs because none of the recognized exceptions permitting recovery of third party costs from a plaintiff applied.

However, the defendant by counterclaim established that the responding party had previously pursued substantially identical relief in earlier proceedings and had failed to satisfy outstanding costs orders exceeding $40,000.

The court exercised its discretion to order security for costs in favour of the defendant by counterclaim.

Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's action, the successful defendants sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis.

The court found that the plaintiff's conduct was not reprehensible and awarded costs on a partial indemnity basis.

The court reviewed the defendants' bills of costs, making reductions for excessive trial preparation time and for the defendants' failure to properly produce relevant documents before trial, which had necessitated a two-day adjournment.

Total costs of $784,276.99 were awarded to the defendants.