Author: Erin Sheley Page 1 of 3

Ph.D. (George Washington University), J.D. (Harvard), B.A. (Harvard).
Assistant Professor.
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By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: Wilful Blindness and the Contradictions of Sentencing

Case Commented On: R v Giroux, 2018 ABCA 56 (CanLII)

Sentencing is a notoriously self-contradictory component of the criminal process. On the one hand, it allows judges freedom from many of the oft-restrictive rules of evidence that govern the trial itself, giving them the flexibility to take into account aspects of the individual accused’s circumstances and history, often in favor of leniency within the very broad statutory ranges where the facts urge it. On the other, the rule of law requires a degree of consistency across sentences, and for particularly serious cases a trial judge’s broad discretion is limited by mandatory minimums created by Parliament. Furthermore, section 718 and related provisions of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, specify principles that must govern sentencing, codifying the various accepted theoretical purposes of criminal punishment, particularly denunciation, deterrence and rehabilitation. Often, these principles directly contradict one another when applied to the facts of a particular case: it is easy to imagine, for example, how the goal of rehabilitating the offender may urge a very different sentence from the goal of denouncing particularly serious conduct. Furthermore, case law construing these statutory sentencing provisions imposes further constraints on lower courts. Due, however, to the difficulties in navigating these choppy legal waters, sentencing judges typically receive a high degree of deference as they have the closest view of the facts before them and the testimony of the accused, victims, and other relevant witnesses. Indeed, a court of appeal may disturb a sentence only where: 1) the sentence reflects an error of principle; or 2) the sentence is demonstrably unfit (see R v Cowan, 2012 ABCA 199 (CanLII) at para 14). Finally, after R v Gladue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 688, 1999 CanLII 679 (SCC), Parliament amended section 718(e) of the Code to require that sentencing judges take into account the particular circumstances of Aboriginal defendants in considering alternatives to incarceration.

All the Pieces Matter: Organized Crime, Wiretaps and Section 8 of the Charter

By Erin Sheley

On August 15, 2017

In Constitutional, Criminal, Privacy

By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: All the Pieces Matter: Organized Crime, Wiretaps and Section 8 of the Charter

Case Commented On: R v Amer, 2017 ABQB 481 (CanLII)

Det. Freamon: “Non-pertinent”? How do you log that non-pertinent?

Det. Pryzbylewski: No drug talk.

Det. Freamon: They use codes that hide their pager and phone numbers. And when someone does use a phone, they don’t use names. And if someone does use a name, he’s reminded not to. All of that is valuable evidence.

Det. Pryzbylewski: Of what?

Det. Freamon: Conspiracy.

Det. Pryzbylewski: Conspiracy?

Det. Freamon: We’re building something here, detective. We’re building it from scratch. All the pieces matter.

—The Wire, Season One, Episode Six

This early scene in HBO’s The Wire, in which Detective Lester Freamon instructs his rookie colleague Ray Pryzbylewski on how to tag conversations they’ve overheard on their wiretap of Avon Barksdale’s Baltimore drug operation, dramatizes the strategy of long-term police investigations of organized criminal syndicates: “all the pieces matter.” Seemingly isolated conversations that, standing alone, reveal no evidence of criminal activity, become part of a general web of information which may eventually prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. But this form of long-term wiretapping—implicating, as it does, a citizen’s right to security from unreasonable searches and seizures under section 8 of the Charter—often fits uneasily within the more exacting framework of constitutional case law. In R v Amer, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench had an opportunity to revisit the current state of the law on wiretaps in the wake of a spree of shootings that occurred in Calgary in the summer of 2015.

Criminal Negligence and the Reasonable Parent

By Erin Sheley

On February 28, 2017

In Criminal

By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: Criminal Negligence and the Reasonable Parent

Case Commented on: R v Lovett, 2017 ABQB 46 (CanLII)

In R v Lovett the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench added a new entry to the rapidly developing jurisprudence on criminal negligence. For much of the past 20 years, the SCC has grappled with articulating the appropriate mens rea standard required by Section 219 of the Criminal Code. Starting with R v Tutton, [1989] 1 SCR 1392 (CanLII), the Court has wavered a bit as to whether the Crown could prove that the accused committed an unlawful act or omission showing a “wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons” with regard to an objective standard (that of the “reasonable person”) or whether it must prove that the accused had subjective awareness of such a risk. As of 2008, with R v JF, (2008) SCC 60 (CanLII), the standard has ostensibly been settled as objective: criminal negligence requires only “a marked and substantial departure from the conduct of a reasonably prudent person in circumstances in which the accused either recognized and ran an obvious and serious risk… or, alternatively, gave no thought to that risk” (JF, at para 9). Notably, this standard requires a higher deviation from the standard of care than that required in other objective fault offences: the departure must be marked and substantial as opposed to simply marked.

The Constitutional Limits of the Sex Offender Registry

By Erin Sheley

On November 30, 2016

In Constitutional, Criminal

By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: The Constitutional Limits of the Sex Offender Registry

Case Commented On: R v Ndhlovu, 2016 ABQB 595 (CanLII)

It has become conventional wisdom in public discourse that sex offenders are uniquely likely to repeat their crimes. This assumption, combined with the heinous nature of sex offences (particularly those involving child victims), has motivated law enforcement and legislators to adopt unique measures to solve and prevent sex offences. In the United States the FBI maintains a searchable sex offender database compiled from the data of the various state jurisdictions. A user may conduct a geographic search to quickly access the name, photograph, and rap sheet of any sex offender living in their neighborhood. (Eligibility for the database varies substantially by state, both in terms of seriousness of the triggering offence (in some states public urination qualifies), duration of time on the database (in many jurisdictions it is for life), and existence of judicial discretion to require registration (in most jurisdictions it is automatic upon conviction for a triggering offence)).

Canada’s approach has been somewhat more moderate.

Dogs Getting Their Day: Alberta Court of Appeal Rejects End-runs Around Animal Cruelty Laws

By Erin Sheley

On October 14, 2016

In Criminal, Evidence

By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: Dogs Getting Their Day: Alberta Court of Appeal Rejects End-runs Around Animal Cruelty Laws

Case Commented On: Regina v Sanaee, 2016 ABCA 289 (CanLII)

The year 2016 has been bleak for animals in Canada. In September, Montreal passed a new city bylaw banning the adoption of new pitbulls and pitbull mixes, and imposing stringent licensing and muzzling requirements on currently-owned dogs under threat of euthanasia. (See City of Montreal Regulation 16-060). And Parliament just voted down proposed amendments in Bill C-246, the Modernizing Animal Protections Act, which would have made modest changes to federal legislation such as banning the importation of shark fins removed from living sharks and products made from dog or cat fur. But on September 28, 2016 the Alberta Court of Appeal provided some good news for animal welfare supporters.

In R v Sanaee, 2016 ABCA 289 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal considered the appeal of a dog trainer convicted of two counts of causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal, contrary to section 445.1(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46.