Docket
38547
Her Majesty the Queen v. M.R.H.
(British Columbia) (Criminal) (As of Right)
(Publication ban in case)
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-10-18 | Appeal closed | |
| 2019-10-17 | Transcript received, 54 pages | |
| 2019-10-10 | Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties | |
| 2019-10-10 | Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties | |
| 2019-10-09 | Judgment on the appeal rendered, Ka Côt Br Mar Kas, The appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Number CA44346, 2019 BCCA 39, dated February 5, 2019, was heard on October 9, 2019, and the Court on that day delivered the following judgment orally: KARAKATSANIS J. — The appeal is allowed, substantially for the reasons of Mr. Justice Savage (2019 BCCA 39, 373 C.C.C. (3d) 464). As for the three additional issues raised by the respondent for the first time in this Court, we are not satisfied that they require a new trial. First, we are satisfied that no limiting instruction was required on the issue of character evidence, as there was no real risk of propensity reasoning in this case. Second, we are of the view that no limiting instruction was necessary regarding prior consistent statements, because the statements were elicited early in the trial, were relied upon by the defence and not by the Crown, and there was no real risk in the circumstances of this case that they would be used as self-corroboration. Finally, with respect to the interpretation of the phrase “single transaction” in s. 581(1) of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, we agree that the Crown practice of drafting a single count of an indictment to capture multiple distinct incidents creates the risk that the accused may be convicted without the jurors’ unanimous agreement on any one underlying incident. We leave for another day whether the law supports such a practice and whether jury unanimity is required in such circumstances. In essence, the jury in this case asked whether unanimity on the first incident was sufficient to convict. It is not necessary to deal with the issue in this case, because it is clear from the jury’s question and the response it received, that the jurors unanimously agreed that the first incident had been proven. Here, there is no risk of an injustice and the issue need not be considered (Guindon v. Canada, 2015 SCC 41, [2015] 3 S.C.R. 3, at para. 22). Therefore, the appeal is allowed. The order of the Court of Appeal is set aside. We restore the respondent’s conviction for sexual assault and the judicial stay on the count of sexual interference. Allowed |
|
| 2019-10-09 | Hearing of the appeal, 2019-10-09, Ka Côt Br Mar Kas Judgment rendered |
|
| 2019-10-09 | General proceeding, (Letter Form), Case Sensitivity Questionnaire | M.R.H. |
| 2019-10-09 | General proceeding, (Letter Form), Case Sentivity Questionnaire | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-10-08 | Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), 2 reserved seats requested. | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-09-24 | Notice of appearance, (Letter Form), Brent V. Bagnall, Roger P. Thirkell and Joseph M. Doyle will appear before the court. Mr. Bagnall will present oral arguments. | M.R.H. |
| 2019-09-18 | Notice of appearance, (Letter Form), Matthew Scott and Mary T. Ainslie, Q.C.will appear before the court. Mr. Scott will present oral arguments. | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-08-07 | Notice of hearing sent to parties | |
| 2019-07-31 | Appeal hearing scheduled, 2019-10-09 Judgment rendered |
|
| 2019-07-11 | Appeal perfected for hearing | |
| 2019-06-26 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B | M.R.H. |
| 2019-06-26 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A | M.R.H. |
| 2019-06-26 | Certificate of counsel (attesting to record), (Letter Form) | M.R.H. |
| 2019-06-26 | Respondent's record, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-06-26 | M.R.H. |
| 2019-06-26 | Respondent's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-06-26 | M.R.H. |
| 2019-05-01 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-05-01 | Certificate of counsel (attesting to record), (Letter Form) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-05-01 | Appellant's record, (Book Form), (3 volumes), Completed on: 2019-05-01 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-05-01 | Appellant's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2019-05-01 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-03-28 | Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right) | |
| 2019-03-20 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a notice of appeal, FILE OPENED | |
| 2019-03-06 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-03-06 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2019-03-06 | Notice of appeal, (Letter Form), Missing: Filing Fee (rec' 03/22/19), Completed on: 2019-05-03 | Her Majesty the Queen |
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