2019

In R. v Anderson, 2017 MBCA 31, the Manitoba Court of Appeal was faced with a Crown appeal of a lower court sentencing decision on a charge impaired driving causing bodily harm, where the jail sentence imposed fell below the range of sentences that had been set by an earlier decision of the court.

I live and work in the Yukon justice system, which is also within the traditional territory of the Ta’an and Kwanlin Dun First Nation lands here in Whitehorse.

I was pleased to attend the meetings of the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice in Ottawa in September as a Canadian Bar Association representative. The NAACJ is a group of justice-oriented organizations whose goal is to contribute to sharing knowledge, information and values in relation to current and emerging criminal justice issues.

Indeed, in R. v. Rilling [1976] 2 S.C.R. 183, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the prosecution did not need to prove the lawfulness of the demand for a breath sample in order to avail itself of the presumption of accuracy found at the time in s. 237(1)(f), now in s. 258(1)(g) of the Criminal Code.

Decision released June 29, 2017

In December of 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its official report, including 94 calls to action “to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of … reconciliation” in Canada’s relationships with Indigenous peoples.

On May 12, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada gave its decision in Québec (Criminal and Penal Prosecutions) v Jodoin, 2017 SCC 26 (36539). The appeal concerns the scope of the court’s power to award costs against a lawyer personally in a criminal proceeding.

In January 2016, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal heard an appeal from conviction in the case of David Folker. Mr. Folker was charged with second degree murder in relation to the death of his common-law wife and mother of his son. A jury convicted him on Nov. 18, 2013.

The co-conspirator’s exception to the hearsay rule permits acts and declarations of co-conspirators to be admitted against all those charged with the offence of conspiracy. This rule applies when the accused is in fact charged with the offence of conspiracy to commit a criminal offence.

The Crime Prevention and Policing Model Review was undertaken in September of 2015 as a process of evaluation of police services in Prince Edward Island.