Yael Pressman

The appellant, Marvin Gurango, appealed his three-year custodial sentence for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario found no error in principle or law in the sentencing judge’s decision, nor was the sentence manifestly unfit.

The court emphasized the importance of denunciation and deterrence for this offence and found the sentence consistent with similar cases.

Leave to appeal was granted, but the appeal was dismissed.

The appellant, George Nnane, appealed his convictions for two counts of fraud, alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel.

The Court of Appeal found that trial counsel's performance fell below the standard of reasonable professional judgment, specifically by failing to adequately cross-examine a key witness, projecting disbelief of the appellant's testimony during examination-in-chief, and delivering an ineffective jury address.

Despite a strong Crown case, the court concluded that the cumulative effect of counsel's conduct undermined the fairness of the trial.

The conviction appeal was allowed, the convictions were set aside, and a new trial was ordered.

The sentence appeal was not addressed.

The accused, Damodar Arapakota, was charged under s. 3(1)(a) of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA) for allegedly providing a material benefit (a US trip valued at approximately $20,000) to a Botswanan public official, Dr. Omponye Coach Kereteletswe, as consideration for official acts to obtain a business advantage for his company, Imex Systems Inc. The Crown argued the trip was consideration for letters confirming a contract and its value.

The defence contended the trip was for convenience and partially reimbursed, and the letters did not provide a material business advantage.

The court found that while a material benefit was conferred, the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the benefit was "as consideration for" the letters (lacking a quid pro quo) or that the letters provided a material "advantage in business" as required by the CFPOA.

The accused was found not guilty.

The appellant appealed his sentence of two years less a day for trafficking cocaine to undercover police officers on three occasions within a two-week period.

The appellant argued that the sentencing judge erred in principle by applying the parity principle without sufficient information regarding a co-accused's sentence.

The sentencing judge acknowledged the need for caution but proceeded to rely on the co-accused's sentence despite incomplete information.

The Court of Appeal found this constituted an error in principle that impacted the sentence and reduced the appellant's sentence to 12 months.

Richard Briscoe was found guilty by a jury of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and pleaded guilty to failing to comply with bail conditions.

The court accepted a joint submission for a global sentence of 12 months' imprisonment, with credit for 120 days of pre-trial custody.

The reasons for sentence extensively discuss the intersection of criminal law and drug treatment, emphasizing rehabilitation as a paramount sentencing objective for drug-addicted offenders, while also balancing denunciation and deterrence.

The court explored therapeutic jurisprudence and problem-solving approaches in sentencing, noting the accused's long history of addiction and criminal behaviour.

The applicants, charged with tax evasion under the Income Tax Act and Excise Tax Act, brought a Charter motion alleging breaches of their sections 7 and 8 rights.

They argued that a CRA auditor improperly used civil audit powers to gather evidence for a criminal investigation.

The court applied the Jarvis predominant purpose test and found the auditor's focus remained on civil tax liability until the file was referred to criminal investigations.

The court did find a section 8 breach because the search warrant did not explicitly authorize a thorough search of seized electronic data storage units.

However, applying the Grant framework, the court admitted the evidence under section 24(2), concluding the breach was minor, the officers acted in good faith, and there is a strong societal interest in adjudicating the serious allegations on their merits.

The appellant was convicted of significant fraud involving the preparation of fraudulent tax returns for 241 taxpayers claiming non-existent business losses to obtain tax refunds from the Canada Revenue Agency.

The fraud resulted in wrongful federal tax refunds exceeding $2.7 million, with the appellant receiving over $149,000 for his role.

The appellant appealed both conviction and sentence, raising numerous grounds of appeal.

The Court of Appeal dismissed all grounds, finding no errors in the trial judge's handling of search warrant issues, Charter rights claims, jury charge, or sentencing.

Appellant appealed her conviction for importing cocaine and her sentence of three years imprisonment.

The Crown's case established all essential elements of importing beyond a reasonable doubt.

The appellant's sole defence was duress, which the jury rejected.

On appeal, the appellant argued that the trial judge erred in instructing the jury that seeking assistance from Canadian Border Services Agency officers at the airport constituted a safe avenue of escape, contending that the importing offence was complete upon entry into Canada.

The Court of Appeal held that while importing may be legally complete upon entry, it is not factually complete until the contraband and its carrier clear customs.

Accordingly, assistance from domestic authorities remained available as a potential safe avenue of escape.

The appeal from conviction was dismissed.

On the sentencing appeal, the appellant sought a six-month reduction due to an unlawful strip search conducted by the RCMP.

While the trial judge erred in her analysis of the Charter breach's seriousness and in treating sentencing ranges as fixed, these errors did not impact the sentence imposed, which was fit.

The appeal from sentence was dismissed.

The appellant appealed his conviction for possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking and his sentence of 5 years less time served.

On the conviction appeal, the appellant challenged the trial judge's finding that he was in possession and control of the basement where cocaine was found, and argued that his mental health condition at trial prevented him from presenting a full defence.

The Court of Appeal found the trial judge's conclusion regarding possession and control was open to him and rejected the mental health argument due to lack of fresh evidence.

On the sentence appeal, duty counsel conceded the sentence fell within a proper range but argued the trial judge failed to give proper effect to a 10-year gap between prior convictions and failed to account for mental health issues in custody.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both appeals.

The appellant was convicted of importing and possessing cocaine for the purpose of trafficking after customs officials found 1.2 kilograms of cocaine wrapped in his t-shirt in a truck's fuse box.

On appeal, he argued the trial judge made several errors in assessing his credibility, including taking improper judicial notice, misapprehending evidence, and reversing the burden of proof.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge's credibility findings were reasonably open on the evidence and any alleged errors were peripheral to the core reasoning.

An application to admit fresh evidence was also dismissed for failing the Palmer test.

The accused, a lawyer, was charged with multiple counts of money laundering, possession of proceeds of crime, fraud, and conspiracy related to an international ephedrine exportation scheme operated by Afshin Dastani.

The Crown's case relied heavily on the testimony of Dastani, who admitted to operating an illegal drug exportation business and claimed he disclosed the illicit nature of his activities to the accused.

The court found Dastani to be an unreliable and discredited witness due to numerous inconsistencies in his evidence and a pattern of deception toward family, friends, legal advisors, and government authorities.

Without credible evidence of the accused's knowledge that funds were proceeds of crime, the court acquitted the accused on all charges.

The appellant was convicted of three counts of knowingly making a false statement in a loan application under the Canada Small Business Financing Act and sentenced to a conditional sentence and a fine in lieu of forfeiture of $495,049.02.

He appealed the conviction, arguing it was unreasonable based on circumstantial evidence, and the sentence, arguing the fine exceeded the proceeds he personally benefited from.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the circumstantial evidence clearly established the invoices were false and prepared by the appellant.

The court also upheld the fine, noting the appellant had possession and control of the loan proceeds and transferred them out of the country, making it unnecessary to prove he personally benefited on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

The offender, a 41-year-old first offender with significant health issues, was found guilty of possession of crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime.

The Crown sought a 15-month custodial sentence, while the defence sought a conditional sentence of the same length.

The court considered the principles of sentencing, including restraint and rehabilitation, and found that the offender posed very little risk of re-offending.

The court imposed a 15-month conditional sentence, followed by one year of probation, along with a firearms prohibition and a DNA order.

The appellant, a convicted drug dealer, appealed a full forfeiture order of his residential property under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The property was heavily fortified and used for commercial cocaine distribution.

The Court of Appeal upheld the application judge's finding that the property was a fortified drug property and that full forfeiture was not disproportionate given the nature of the offences, the appellant's extensive criminal record, and his ties to organized crime.

The appeal was dismissed.