Summary

Keywords

Criminal law - Evidence - Misapprehension of evidence - Miscarriage of justice - Whether majority of Court of Appeal erred in law in finding that trial judge’s misapprehension of evidence was material and resulted in miscarriage of justice.

Summary

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At trial before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the respondent, W.M., was convicted of sexual interference and sexual assault. A majority of the Court of Appeal allowed the respondent’s appeal from his convictions and ordered a new trial. In the majority’s view, the trial judge misapprehended the respondent’s evidence concerning his prior sexual offender treatment, namely the year that it occurred, and this error had a material impact on the convictions. In dissent, Miller J.A. would have dismissed the appeal as he did not believe that the trial judge’s misapprehension of evidence played an essential role in the reasoning process resulting in convictions.

Lower Court Rulings