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33841

Her Majesty the Queen v. V.Y.

(Ontario) (Criminal) (As of Right)

(Publication ban in case) (Publication ban on party)

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)
2011-05-17 Appeal closed
2011-05-10 Transcript received, (77 pages)
2011-05-09 Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties
2011-05-09 Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties
2011-05-06 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 Ontario, Number C48645, 2010 ONCA 544, dated August 5, 2010, heard on April 21, 2011, is dismissed.
Dismissed
2011-04-21 Judgment reserved OR rendered with reasons to follow
2011-04-21 Hearing of the appeal, 2011-04-21, CJ Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro Cro
Judgment reserved
2011-04-21 Acknowledgement and consent for video taping of proceedings, All parties consented
2011-04-21 General proceeding, The respondent has no concerns V.Y.
2011-04-21 General proceeding, The intervener may have mentionned the Respondent's name Her Majesty the Queen
2011-04-21 Respondent's condensed book, Filed in Court V.Y.
2011-04-21 Appellant's condensed book, Filed in Court Her Majesty the Queen
2011-04-07 Notice of appearance, Lisa Joyal will be appearing Her Majesty the Queen
2011-03-31 Notice of appearance, Brian Snell will be appearing Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
2011-03-31 Notice of appearance, Michael Engel, Russell Silverstein and Ingrid Grant will be appearing and Mr. Engel and Mr. Silverstein will make oral submissions. V.Y.
2011-03-28 Intervener's book of authorities, Completed on: 2011-03-28 Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
2011-03-28 Order by, LeB, FURTHER TO THE ORDER dated January 27, 2011, granting leave to intervene to the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted;
IT IS HEREBY FURTHER ORDERED THAT the intervener is granted permission to present oral argument not exceeding ten (10) minutes at the hearing of this appeal
Granted
2011-03-24 Intervener's factum, Completed on: 2011-03-24 Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
2011-03-15 Notice of hearing sent to parties
2011-03-09 Appeal hearing scheduled, 2011-04-21, (start time 9:30 am)
Judgment reserved
2011-03-01 Appeal perfected for hearing
2011-02-11 Respondent's book of authorities, Completed on: 2011-02-11 V.Y.
2011-02-11 Respondent's factum, Completed on: 2011-02-11 V.Y.
2011-01-27 Order on motion for leave to intervene, (BY LEBEL J.)
2011-01-27 Decision on the motion for leave to intervene, LeB, UPON APPLICATION by the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted for leave to intervene in the above appeal;
AND THE MATERIAL FILED having been read;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
The motion for leave to intervene of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted is granted and the said intervener shall be entitled to serve and file a factum not to exceed 10 pages in length.
The request to present oral argument is deferred to a date following receipt and consideration of the written arguments of the parties and the intervener.
The intervener shall not be entitled to raise new issues or to adduce further evidence or otherwise to supplement the record of the parties.
Pursuant to Rule 59(1)(a) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada, the intervener shall pay to the appellant and respondent any additional disbursements occasioned to the appellant and respondent by its intervention
Granted
2011-01-27 Submission of motion for leave to intervene, LeB
2011-01-12 Response to the motion for leave to intervene, email from Burke-Robertson dated Jan. 12/11, Completed on: 2011-01-12 Her Majesty the Queen
2011-01-12 Motion for leave to intervene, Completed on: 2011-01-12 Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
2010-12-14 Order on motion to extend time
2010-12-14 Decision on motion to extend time, Reg, to serve and file the appellant's record, factum and authorities to Dec. 3/10
Granted
2010-12-14 Submission of motion to extend time, Reg
2010-12-03 Response to motion to extend time, (Letter Form), from Michael Engel dated Nov. 24/10, Completed on: 2010-12-03 V.Y.
2010-12-03 Motion to extend time, to serve and file the appellant's record, factum and authorities to Dec. 3/10, Completed on: 2010-12-03 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-12-03 Appellant's book of authorities, Completed on: 2010-12-03 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-12-03 Appellant's record, (3 volumes), Completed on: 2010-12-03 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-12-03 Appellant's factum, (Extension of time rec'd Dec. 3/10) (CD missing - rec'd Dec. 14/10), Completed on: 2010-12-14 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-09-30 Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right)
2010-09-03 Notice of appeal, AMENDED notice rec'd Sept. 07, 2010 with service, CA order missing - rec'd Sept. 22, 2010 with CD Rom, Completed on: 2010-09-22 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
V.Y. Respondent Active

Other parties

Other parties
Name Role Status
Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted Intervener Active

Counsel

Party: Her Majesty the Queen

Counsel
Name
Lisa Joyal
Contact information
Attorney General of Ontario
720 Bay Street
10th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 2K1
Telephone: (416) 326-2383
FAX: (416) 326-4656
Email: lisa.joyal@ontario.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: V.Y.

Counsel
Names
Michael G. Engel
Russell Silverstein
Ingrid Grant
Contact information
533 Queen St. E.
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 1V1
Telephone: (416) 364-6755
FAX: (416) 364-7049
Agent
Name
Brian A. Crane, Q.C.
Contact information
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600 - 160 Elgin St
Box 466 Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: brian.crane@gowlingwlg.com

Party: Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted

Counsel
Name
Brian Snell
Contact information
Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
626 - 111 Peter Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 2H1
Telephone: (416) 504-7500
FAX: (416) 203-9088
Email: bsnell@lcp-law.com
Agent
Name
Brian A. Crane, Q.C.
Contact information
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600 - 160 Elgin St
Box 466 Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: brian.crane@gowlingwlg.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.

(PUBLICATION BAN IN CASE)

Criminal law - Reasonable doubt - Credibility - Evidence - Application of R. v. W.(D.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 742 - Whether the majority of the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the trial judge shifted the burden of proof to the respondent to establish his innocence - Whether the majority of the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the trial judge misapplied the governing legal principles in his evaluation of the credibility of the complainant and the respondent.

The respondent was convicted of sexually assaulting and unlawfully confining his thirteen year-old neighbour. The respondent successfully appealed his conviction and was granted a new trial. The majority of the Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had erred by assuming the respondent’s guilt to establish the credibility of the complainant. It also concluded that the trial judge failed to give sufficient consideration to the third part of the test set out in R. v. W.(D.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 742. In particular, the majority concluded that the trial judge failed to consider the possibility that because there was a great deal of animosity between the respondent and the complainant’s family, the complainant could have “spontaneously accused the [respondent] of ‘humping’ him”. The majority explained that this omission was especially troubling given that the action described by the complainant was inconsistent with that of a person seeking sexual gratification, and seemed to be consistent with “a child’s understanding of what a pedophile would do to a young boy”. Similarly, the majority found that certain evidence seemed to suggest that the complainant’s story had evolved over time in order to become more coherent. Moldaver J.A., dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal, finding no basis to interfere with the trial judge’s credibility findings and no error in his application of the governing legal principles.

Lower court rulings

January 17, 2008
Ontario Court of Justice


Convictions: Sexual assault and forcible confinement

August 5, 2010
Court of Appeal for Ontario

C48645, 2010 ONCA 544

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