William Reid

The defendants, Richard Jakovac and Emilia Gruyters, applied for a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter due to unreasonable delay.

The net delay was calculated at 17 months and 10 days, which is below the 18-month presumptive ceiling for the Ontario Court of Justice.

The court found that the defence took meaningful and sustained steps to expedite the proceedings.

Despite the COVID-19 backlog, the court concluded that this simple 2-day case took "markedly longer" than it reasonably should have due to institutional delay, specifically a lack of judicial resources.

A stay of proceedings was ordered.

The appellant, Anthony Pullano, appealed a trial judgment where a jury found that the respondent, Steven Hinder, committed battery but caused no injury, thus awarding no damages for battery.

The jury also awarded $50,000 to the respondent on his counterclaim for defamation.

The appellant sought nominal damages for battery and vicarious liability against corporate respondents, which the trial judge refused.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the trial judge was not required to award nominal damages as it was the jury's function to consider damages, and nominal damages were not put to the jury.

Awarding nominal damages post-verdict would usurp the jury's role and undermine trial fairness.

Consequently, the issue of vicarious liability was moot.

The court also upheld the costs award against the appellant.

Following a jury trial, the jury found the defendant Hinder punched the plaintiff Pullano but caused no physical, emotional, or psychological injury.

The jury also found Pullano defamed Hinder and awarded Hinder $50,000 in general damages on the counterclaim.

The court declined to award nominal damages for battery, reasoning that it would usurp the jury's role and that the legal basis for battery (offence to dignity or harm) was not met given the jury's findings of no injury.

The issue of vicarious liability for Magna International Inc. and The Stronach Group was deemed moot due to no damages being awarded against Hinder.

Costs were awarded to the defendants against the plaintiff, fixed at $174,509.63, considering the plaintiff's lack of success, inflated claims, and unreasonable conduct, including a social media defamation campaign.

The defendant pleaded guilty to twelve serious charges arising from two shooting incidents in northwest Toronto on April 15-16, 2015.

On April 15, he participated in an attempted murder at Mount Olive Drive.

On April 16, he participated in a more serious attack at Driftwood Court where five people were shot.

The defendant was sentenced to seventeen years imprisonment, with the sentence structured to reflect the gravity of the offences, the number of victims, the use of firearms, and the defendant's breach of probation and prohibition orders.

The court emphasized that the defendant's actions constituted attempted murder with the same moral culpability as murder, and that general deterrence and denunciation were paramount sentencing considerations.

The applicant subtenant sought an interlocutory injunction to restrain the respondent sublandlord from terminating a commercial sublease.

The respondent had issued a notice of termination after police searched the premises and laid criminal charges against the sons of the applicant's operators.

Applying the RJR-MacDonald test, the court found a serious issue to be tried, irreparable harm if the applicant was evicted, and that the balance of convenience favoured the applicant, who had $1.5 million in inventory and was current on rent.

The court granted the injunction, allowing the applicant supervised access pending the main application.