Tom Shoniker

D.M., a young person, was found guilty of first-degree murder as a co-participant in a senseless, premeditated killing.

The Crown initially sought an adult sentence but abandoned it.

The court considered the appropriate youth sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), taking into account D.M.'s tragic background, mental illnesses, progress in pre-trial custody, and the principles of accountability, proportionality, and rehabilitation.

The court imposed a 10-year Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) order, structured as 4 years in secure custody followed by 6 years under conditional supervision, giving credit for the 3 years and 3 months spent in pre-trial custody.

This case concerns a Charter application to exclude firearm evidence in a criminal trial.

The defendant, a Black male, was stopped by police based on a robbery suspect description (white male, skinny build) that he did not match.

The court found that the initial detention was unlawful, violating sections 9 (arbitrary detention) and 10 (right to counsel) of the Charter, as police lacked reasonable suspicion and failed to provide rights immediately.

Constable Akgul's testimony regarding the reasons for detention was deemed unreliable.

However, the court accepted Constable Mehmoud's evidence that subsequent observations of the defendant displaying signs of firearm possession created reasonable suspicion for the physical takedown, during which the loaded firearm fell out.

The court found no section 8 (unreasonable search) violation.

Applying the R. v. Grant s. 24(2) analysis, the court acknowledged the seriousness of the Charter breaches due to the officer's wilful disregard and fabricated reasons.

However, the impact on the defendant's Charter rights was deemed fleeting, as the evidence would have been discovered lawfully seconds later.

Crucially, society's interest in adjudicating serious firearm offences on their merits overwhelmingly favored admission.

Consequently, the firearm evidence was admitted.

The accused, a drug trafficker, was convicted of robbing another drug dealer of MDMA at gunpoint inside a vehicle, during which he shot the victim in the forearm.

The Crown sought a six-year sentence, while the defence sought four years.

The court imposed a global sentence of five years imprisonment, reduced by pre-sentence custody credit, balancing the gravity of the offences involving a loaded handgun with the youthful offender's rehabilitative efforts.