Category: Criminal Page 24 of 39

By: Erin Sheley

PDF Version: Parole Ineligibility and the Double Edges of Consistency in Sentencing

Case Commented On: R v Ryan, 2015 ABCA 286

In R v Ryan the Alberta Court of Appeal clarifies how trial courts should apply some of the sentencing factors set out in sections 718-719 of the Criminal Code RSC 1985, c C-46 to the calculation of a period of parole ineligibility under section 745.4 for a person convicted of second degree murder. In that sense alone it has obvious pragmatic relevance for criminal practitioners and suggests answers to some interesting theoretical questions about the relationship between parole ineligibility and the denunciative function of a life sentence. Of potentially broader long-term significance, however, is the difference between the majority justices in this case. Madam Justice Ellen Picard reaffirms the status quo of broad judicial discretion in criminal sentencing. Though concurring in the result of allowing the Crown’s appeal in this case, Justice Wakeling writes separately to assert that the interests of rationality, predictability and consistency require appellate courts to construct an analytical framework that will encourage sentencing courts to adopt a common methodology for sentencing. The justices’ reasons trace lines of battle familiar to those who have watched the experiment with mandatory sentencing guidelines and its fallout in the United States. In the event that Ryan presages a sea change, practitioners should be aware of the analysis in both positions. But Canadian courts should be leery of starting down this fraught path.

R v Porter: Self-incrimination – Judicial Restraint of State Coercion

By Brett Code, Q.C.

On September 21, 2015

In Constitutional, Criminal

By: Brett Code, Q.C.

PDF Version: R v Porter: Self-incrimination – Judicial Restraint of State Coercion

Case Commented On: R v Porter, 2015 ABCA 279

It should not have been necessary, because the applicable law on the matter has been settled since 1999, but for those police officers and prosecutors who might have forgotten, the Court of Appeal in R v Porter has once again forcefully stated that statutorily compelled statements are inadmissible in criminal trials because they violate the principle against self-incrimination and section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Insistent upon guarding against the admissibility of potentially unreliable confessions, against potential abuse of state power, and against the improper use by the Crown of otherwise properly-collected, statutorily required information, the Court confirmed the principle of fundamental justice that the state may not conscript the accused against himself or herself but must build any case to meet without compelled evidence from the suspect.

At issue was the use, if any, that could be made of information contained in compulsory accident reports made to police under section 71 of the Traffic Safety Act, RSA 2000, c T-6 (TSA) and in compulsory statements made to insurers for insurance purposes following an accident. The Court’s decisive conclusions were that:

such statements or the information contained in them are inadmissible in criminal proceedings arising out of a car accident; and
the information obtained through those statements cannot be used as part of the reasonable and probable grounds of an informant in an Information to Obtain a Search Warrant or Production Order.

R v Borowiec On Infanticide: Does the Crime Fit the Times?

By Lisa Silver

On August 10, 2015

In Criminal

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: R v Borowiec On Infanticide: Does the Crime Fit the Times?

Case Commented On: R v Borowiec, 2015 ABCA 232

In a few weeks the law school will be humming with activity as the newly admitted 1L students start learning the Law both in doctrine and in practice. One of the core first year courses is criminal law, which provides the future lawyer a realistic snapshot of the complexities of both areas. Here, in criminal law, they will not only gain knowledge of the prohibitions, rules, and procedures as found in the Criminal Code but also the interpretations and practices as found in Common Law. They will discover that criminal law is not about cut and dry legalese but is, at its core, about how we as a nation see ourselves and the kind of society we want to live in. It is also about ordinary people who are impacted by the decisions made by courts every day.

The Law on Mr. Big Confessions

By Caroline Law

On July 23, 2015

In Criminal

By: Caroline Law

PDF Version: The Law on Mr. Big Confessions

Cases Commented On: R v Magoon, 2015 ABQB 351; R v Campeau, 2015 ABCA 210

A Big operation is a common police sting tactic used to obtain confessions from suspects. It usually involves undercover police officers posing as members of a criminal organization and developing a friendly relationship with the suspect. The suspect is then asked to perform a series of seemingly illegal tasks, and is told those are tests to gain trust from the head of the criminal organization, Mr. Big. In the process, the police officers involved try to obtain evidence or a confession from the suspect in relation to an alleged crime. The operation culminates with a “job interview” between the suspect and the crime boss Mr. Big, which entails Mr. Big interrogating the suspect into his past criminal activities. Once the suspect admits to committing the crime, he or she is arrested. In this post I look at recent decisions in Alberta that have applied the law concerning the admissibility of Mr. Big confessions.

Prosecutors as Ministers of Justice?

By Alice Woolley

On June 29, 2015

In Criminal, Ethics and the Legal Profession

By: Alice Woolley

PDF Version: Prosecutors as Ministers of Justice?

Three recent cases have brought to light bad behaviour by criminal prosecutors.

In R v Suarez-Noa, 2015 ONSC 3823 Justice Reid ordered a mistrial after the prosecutor suggested “to the jury that the accused had behaved like an animal rather than a human being,” calling the characterization “highly improper” and incapable of being “erased from the minds of the jurors” (at paras 10-11).

According to the CBC, in the Nuttall/Korody bombing trial British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce said the prosecutors “took my breath away” with the “impropriety” of their decision to show a video to the jury that contained “footage of an actual pressure-cooker explosion.” She further described the prosecutor’s decision to ignore her express instruction not to refer to defences of duress and entrapment as “unspeakable” and as something she had “never experienced… before. Ever.” The CBC reported that Justice Bruce “said she would have called a mistrial had the proceedings not been so protracted and difficult”.