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32835

Her Majesty the Queen v. Kelly Marie Ellard

(British Columbia) (Criminal) (As of Right)

(Publication ban in case)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2009-06-16 Appeal closed
2009-06-15 Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties
2009-06-15 Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties
2009-06-12 Judgment on the appeal rendered, CJ Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro Cro, The appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Number CA033219, 2008 BCCA 341, dated September 5, 2008, heard on April 20, 2009, is allowed and the respondent’s conviction is restored, Fish J. dissenting.
Allowed
2009-05-05 Transcript received, (54 pages)
2009-04-20 Judgment reserved OR rendered with reasons to follow
2009-04-20 Respondent's condensed book, Submitted in Court (14 copies) Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-04-20 Appellant's condensed book, Submitted in Court (14 copies) Her Majesty the Queen
2009-04-20 Acknowledgement and consent for video taping of proceedings, From all parties
2009-04-20 Hearing of the appeal, 2009-04-20, CJ Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro Cro
Judgment reserved
2009-04-07 Notice of appearance, Peter Wilson and Brock Martland will be present at the hearing. Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-04-02 Correspondence received from, Gowlings dated April 1/09, further to the letter rec'd Mar. 18/09 re: explaining the contents of the DVD, Exhibit 43 at page 512 of the Respondent's Record (sent to the Court April 3/09) Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-03-31 Notice of appearance, John Gordon and Mary Ainslie will be present at the hearing. Her Majesty the Queen
2009-03-30 Appeal perfected for hearing
2009-03-27 Respondent's book of authorities, (Vol. 1 and 2), Completed on: 2009-03-27 Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-03-27 Respondent's factum, Electronic redacted version filed Mar. 31/09, Completed on: 2009-03-27 Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-03-18 Correspondence received from, Brock Martland dated Mar. 17/09 re: received 13 copies of DVD to be inserted in the respondent'd record Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-03-13 Respondent's record, Vol. 1 to 4 - service to follow - Rec'd on April 9, 2009, Completed on: 2009-04-14 Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-03-02 Notice of hearing sent to parties
2009-03-02 Appeal hearing scheduled, 2009-04-20
Judgment reserved
2009-02-02 Appellant's book of authorities, Completed on: 2009-02-02 Her Majesty the Queen
2009-02-02 Appellant's factum, Completed on: 2009-02-02 Her Majesty the Queen
2009-01-29 Transcript received, (16 pages)
2009-01-26 Appellant's record, Vol. I to XII - service rec'd Jan. 28/09, form to follow, Completed on: 2009-01-28 Her Majesty the Queen
2009-01-14 Correspondence received from, Mr. Martland dated Jan-14-09 re: asking to reschedule appeal Kelly Marie Ellard
2009-01-12 Decision on the motion to quash the appeal, CJ Bi F Abe Cha, The motion to quash the appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Number CA033219, 2008 BCCA 341, dated September 5, 2008, was heard this day and the following judgment was rendered:
The Chief Justice (orally) — We are all of the view that the motion to quash must be dismissed.
Dismissed
2009-01-12 Hearing of the motion to quash, 2009-01-12, CJ Bi F Abe Cha
Decision rendered
2009-01-12 Acknowledgement and consent for video taping of proceedings, All parties consented
2009-01-07 Correspondence (sent by the Court) to, the parties re: confirming the videoconference of Jan. 12/09
2008-12-30 Submission of motion to quash, 2009-01-12, CJ Bi F Abe Cha
Decision rendered
2008-12-23 Notice of appearance, Brock Martland will be appearing by video conference - confirmed by fax Dec. 23/08 Kelly Marie Ellard
2008-12-22 Notice of appearance, John Gordon and Marie Ainslie will be appearing by video conference - confirmed by fax Dec. 22/08 Her Majesty the Queen
2008-12-18 Response to the motion to quash, Completed on: 2008-12-18 Her Majesty the Queen
2008-12-17 Order by, CJ, UPON APPLICATION by the respondent for an order extending the time to file a motion to quash and quashing the appeal;
AND HAVING READ the material filed;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1) The motion to extend the time to file a motion to quash is granted.
2) The motion to quash the appeal shall be heard on Monday, January 12, 2009.
Granted
2008-12-16 Correspondence received from, (e-mail) Burke-Robertson, dated Dec. 16/08; takes no position on the extension of time Her Majesty the Queen
2008-12-08 Motion to quash, (joint with an extension of time), Completed on: 2008-12-08 Kelly Marie Ellard
2008-10-15 Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right)
2008-10-01 Notice of appeal, (AMENDED Notice of Appeal rec'd Nov. 25/08 with service, new CD-Rom and C/A Order) (CD returned Oct. 3/08 - rec'd Oct. 7/08), Completed on: 2008-11-25 Her Majesty the Queen

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Her Majesty the Queen Appellant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Ellard, Kelly Marie Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Her Majesty the Queen

Counsel
Names
John M. Gordon, Q.C.
Mary T. Ainslie
Contact information
Attorney General of British Columbia
600 - 865 Hornby Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6Z 2G3
Telephone: (604) 660-1126
FAX: (604) 660-1142
Email: john.gordon@gov.bc.ca
Agent
Name
Robert E. Houston, Q.C.
Contact information
Burke-Robertson
70 Gloucester Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0A2
Telephone: (613) 566-2058
FAX: (613) 235-4430
Email: rhouston@burkerobertson.com

Party: Ellard, Kelly Marie

Counsel
Names
Peter J. Wilson, Q.C.
Brock Martland
Contact information
Buck & Dlab Law
400 - 744 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6C 1A5
Telephone: (604) 684-4751
FAX: (604) 684-8319
Email: pjwilson@wbbslaw.com
Agent
Name
Henry S. Brown, Q.C.
Contact information
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600 - 160 Elgin St
P.O. Box 466, Stn "D"
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 788-3433
Email: henry.brown@gowlings.com

Summary

Keywords

None.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Criminal law - Trial - Jury instructions - Whether the failure of the trial judge to give the jury a special instruction with respect to the limited evidentiary value of the prior consistent statements of the witness Marissa Bowles amounted to misdirection.

Fourteen-year-old Reena Virk was brutally beaten and then killed in Victoria in the fall of 1997. The Respondent, Kelly Marie Ellard, and a co-accused were charged as adults with second degree murder. A jury convicted the Respondent of murder in 2000. The Court of Appeal set aside that conviction and ordered a new trial. The second trial, held in 2004, ended in a mistrial, when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

At the third trial in 2005, a jury again convicted the Respondent of murder. On appeal, the majority of the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial. Low J.A., dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal on the basis that he was not persuaded that the absence of an instruction as to the law of prior consistent statements gave rise to a risk that the jury might have used forbidden reasoning in assessing the evidence of Ms. Bowles.

Lower court rulings

July 7, 2005
Supreme Court of British Columbia

CC981593

sentence

September 5, 2008
Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver)

CA033219, 2008 BCCA 341

Appeal allowed.

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

Not available.

Date modified: 2025-05-13