Tom Brock

The defendant, S.K., was charged with sexual assault contrary to section 271 of the Criminal Code of Canada, involving non-consensual vaginal intercourse with the complainant, J.F., who was 15 years old at the time.

The court found the complainant's testimony credible and reliable, establishing the actus reus of sexual assault.

Regarding mens rea, the court determined that the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that S.K. did not take reasonable steps to ascertain consent and knew of, was wilfully blind to, or was reckless about the absence of consent.

The defendant was found guilty.

The accused, Dillion Hamilton-Palimaka, was charged with break and enter, wounding an animal, and causing unnecessary pain to an animal after his girlfriend's dog, Lexi, was brutally attacked.

The case relied on circumstantial evidence, including Lexi's developing fear of the accused, the accused's access to the home, his angry departure from a funeral, and inconsistencies in his and his brothers' alibi testimony regarding precise timings.

The court found the accused's and his brothers' evidence unreliable.

The accused was convicted of causing unnecessary pain to an animal, but acquitted of break and enter (due to permissive entry) and the wounding charges (Crown not seeking conviction).