In the case of Derrick Michael Lawlor v The King, Mr. Lawlor, the appellant, appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada as of right from the Court of Appeal for Ontario, on the basis of a dissenting judge. The appellant had engaged in a sexual encounter with the deceased and another man at a park. Hours later, the body of the deceased was found, and the cause of death was determined to be neck compression. The appellant suffered from mental illness and had consumed both psychiatric medication and alcohol around the time that he was in the park. The appellant had made statements before and after t ..read more

CASE SUMMARY- TREVOR LINDSAY V. HIS MAJESTY THE KING   At what point should a police officer lose the protection offered by section 25 of the Criminal Code, justifying the use of as much force as necessary, so long as the officer acted on reasonable grounds and used that force for something the officer was required or authorized to do? This appeal comes to the Supreme Court of Canada as of right from the Court of Appeal of Alberta. Officer Lindsay was charged with aggravated assault against an individual in his custody following an incident, much of which was captured on video. Following ..read more

The appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada originates from Court Martial Appeal Court (CMAC). Prior to the appeal being filed, multiple decisions came out by military judges which held that there is a lack of institutional independence because of their risk of prosecution under the military’s code of Service Discipline. It leaves military judges at risk of being influenced by a senior member of the Canadian Armed Forces. The separate roles is a fundamental postulate of the rule of law. Therefore, judicial independence must not only exist in fact, but it must also be seen to exist to a reasonabl ..read more

Mr. Metzger was convicted of two counts of robbery, breaking and entering to steal a firearm, and disguise with intent in relation to 2017 home invasion. Mr. Metzger was convicted largely on the strength of DNA evidence which tied him to a cigarette butt found within the getaway vehicle 11 hours after the robbery. The trial judge concluded that this evidence permitted him to infer both recent possession of the vehicle and guilt in the robbery. The defence appealed the convictions to the Court of Appeal of Alberta on the grounds that the trial judge misapprehended the cigarette butt evidence wh ..read more

Il y a une ordonnance de non-publication dans le dossier L’intimé, H.V., a plaidé coupable à une infraction de leurre, poursuivie par voie sommaire, commise entre le 31 juillet et le 9 août 2017. Lors de la détermination de la peine, l’intimé a soulevé l’inconstitutionnalité de la peine minimale obligatoire de 6 mois prévue à l’al. 172.1(2)b) du Code criminel, en vertu de l’art. 12 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés. Il a été d’avis qu’une peine d’emprisonnement serait injustifiée. La poursuite a réclamé une peine entre 9 et 12 mois d’emprisonnement avec une probation. La Cour du Q ..read more

In the early morning hours of March 16, 2007, the deceased’s body was discovered in a ditch near Calgary. The victim had been fatally shot in the head. Police determined that Mr. Russell Steven Tessier was a friend and business associate of the deceased, and asked Mr. Tessier to come in for an interview the following day. Mr. Tessier agreed to the interview and met with police for almost 3 hours. At no point during this initial interview did police caution Mr. Tessier or advise him of his right to counsel. According to police, at that point in time, Mr. Tessier was not a suspect – police were ..read more

There is a S. 486.4 publication ban involving this matter. In August 2013, Mr. Alan Teck Meng Lai was charged with various sexual offences. In November 2017, Mr. Lai sought to stay his charges after alleging a breach of his s. 11 (b) Charter rights to be tried within a reasonable time. At trial the judge found that there was a delay in the proceeding which totaled 57 months. The judge subtracted 25 months from this total. These months were considered exceptional events because Mr. Lai re-elected. The trial judge applied the transitional exception and dismissed the s. 11(b) applicatio ..read more

At trial, appellant, Matthew Brown, was acquitted of breaking and entering with commission of aggravated assault. The accused attended a party where he consumed alcohol and magic mushrooms. While intoxicated, he broke into two homes, assaulting the occupant in the first residence and causing damage to property in the other. The accused challenged the constitutionality of s. 33.1 of the Criminal Code, which prohibited him from raising the defence of non-mental disorder automatism by reason of self-induced intoxication where his conduct interferes with the bodily integrity of another person. The ..read more

The respondent, Nigel Lafrance, was charged with first-degree murder. In March of 2015, shortly after the killing, police obtained and executed a search warrant on Mr. Lafrance’s home. During this search, police asked Mr. Lafrance to voluntarily provide a statement, to which he agreed. At this time, he was not arrested, nor was he provided his Charter rights. After this interview, Mr. Lafrance consented to providing police with fingerprints, DNA and blood samples, a cell phone and several items of clothing. In April of 2015, Mr. Lafrance was arrested for murder, at which time he was provided h ..read more

L’intimé est accusé de 18 chefs relatifs à des crimes de nature sexuelle commis dans les années 70 et 80 sur quatre victimes alors mineures incluant sa fille, son fils, sa nièce et son neveu. Son procès débute en mars 2015 devant le juge Beaulieu. Cependant le procès est interrompu lorsque le juge tombe malade. Seule la plaignante C.D. a alors été entendue. Les parties comparaissent afin de reporter le dossier pour qu’un nouveau juge soit désigné en vertu de l’al. 669 pour le procès. Ainsi, à réouverture du procès, les avocats des parties, d’un commun accord, versent les notes sténographiques ..read more