Credit to the team at Supreme Advocacy
Leaves Dismissed
Criminal Law: 10(b)
Nicholas Villeneuve v. R, 2023 NLCA 14 (40841)
The Applicant was driving his truck home when he collided head-on with a vehicle containing four individuals. Two died and two others sustained serious injuries. The Applicant was injured and was taken to the hospital. The Applicant was charged with eight impaired and dangerous driving related charges. The trial judge held that the Applicant’s s. 10(b) Charter rights were breached, excluded the evidence, and acquitted the Applicant. The N.L.C.A. held that the trial judge made numerous errors which had a material bearing on the acquittals. The N.L.C.A. allowed the appeal, set aside the acquittals, and ordered a new trial. “The application for leave to appeal…is dismissed.”
Criminal Law: Fraud/Attempted Fraud
R. v. Landry, 2022 QCCA 1186, 2024 SCC 2 (40394)
Karakatsanis J.: “This is an appeal as of right from a judgment that was the subject of dissent on a question of law. In this case, the majority of the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the fraud conviction and the dissenting judge would have substituted a verdict of attempted fraud for that verdict. There is therefore a “disagreement which affects the result” within the meaning of R. v. D’Amico, 2019 SCC 23, [2019] 2 S.C.R. 394, at para. 3. The majority of the Court is of the view that the appeal should be dismissed, substantially for the reasons of the majority of the Court of Appeal. Côté J., for her part, would have allowed the appeal in part to substitute an attempted fraud conviction for the fraud conviction, substantially for the reasons of Cotnam J.A., and would have remitted the matter to the trial court for sentencing. Therefore, the appeal is dismissed.”
Criminal Law: Child Porn; Voir Dire; Hearsay
Vermeer v. R., 2023 BCCA 206 (40739)
The Applicant was a pastor and computer systems administrator for a church. A network security contractor, in the course of investigating a virus, found child pornography associated with the Applicant’s user account. A police investigation revealed child pornography on the Applicant’s computer, as well as evidence that the Applicant’s computers had been used to seek out further child pornography. All of this evidence was associated with the Applicant’s user accounts. The Applicant testified at trial. The trial judge rejected his evidence and found that it did not raise a reasonable doubt as to his guilt. The Crown’s evidence, though circumstantial, was reliable and there was no reasonable explanation for it other than the Applicant’s guilt. He was convicted. The B.C.C.A. rejected the argument that the Crown’s electronic evidence required a voir dire, and the Applicant did not object to its admission at trial. Any hearsay evidence in the form of file names was either not used for an inappropriate purpose or admissible under the principled exception in any event. Any misapprehensions by the trial judge would not have affected the result. The appeal was dismissed. “The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the application for leave to appeal is granted. The application for leave to appeal…is dismissed.”
Criminal Law: Extradition
Creighton v. Ministry of Justice for the Department of Justice, United States of America, 2023 ONCA 85 (40916)
There is a publication ban in this case, certain information not available to the public, in the context of extradition to the U.S. re alleged child porn. “The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the application for leave to appeal is granted. The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the reply is granted. The application for leave to appeal…is dismissed.”
Criminal Law: Possession for the Purposes
Chartrand v. R., 2023 NSCA 43 (40905)
The Applicant operated the Higher Living Wellness Centre Inc. located in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. The RCMP executed two search warrants on Higher Living — one on the premises itself and the other on its electronic devices. Prior to trial, the Applicant brought a constitutional challenge to the validity of s. 5(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR), alleging violations of s. 7 of the Charter. The application was dismissed. The Applicant was convicted of two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking of cannabis and cannabis resin. The N.S.C.A. dismissed the appeal. “The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the reply is granted. The application for leave to appeal…is dismissed.”
Criminal Law: Search Warrants; Firearms
Hamouth v. R., 2023 ONCA 541 (40835)
The Applicant was charged with multiple firearm related offences, all of which arose from the execution of a search warrant at a residential address. The Applicant applied in a Garofoli hearing to set aside the search warrant and to have the 4 firearms seized from his residence excluded from the evidence. Feldman J. dismissed the Applicant’s s. 8 Charter application. At trial, the Crown conceded that the Applicant’s s. 10(b) Charter rights were infringed after the police located the firearms. After conducting a s. 24(2) Charter analysis, the trial judge found that in all the circumstances, admitting the firearms would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute. The Ont. C.A. varied the conviction on one of the counts and dismissed the appeal. “The application for leave to appeal…is dismissed.”