Case information

None.

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 – Unreasonable verdict – Whether rules of law and established jurisprudence apply equally to everyone or lower courts are at liberty to follow it or not – Whether accused should answer only allegations formally on face of Indictment or also allegations not on face of Indictment – Whether evidence known to be fabricated could be accepted in court – Whether trial judge, without giving reasons, could ignore or reject crucial parts of trial evidence and then substitute fabricated or invented evidence to justify conviction -- Whether Court of Appeal failed or refused to do proper appellate review but substituted its own opinions or interpretations for established facts and evidence – Whether applicant deprived of due justice.

In April of 2003, a tractor-trailer unit leased by the applicant and driven by a hired driver collided with a train at a crossing equipped with working caution lights and gates. The tractor-trailer’s brakes failed when the driver tried to stop. The driver suffered lacerations and a broken hand, and the train derailed. According to post-accident inspections challenged by the defence at trial, the tractor-trailer’s brakes were in disrepair and a tire rim was cracked. The driver testified that he inspected the tractor-trailer the day before its use and refused to operate it unless a number of repairs were made, including repairs to the brakes. He testified that the applicant later called him and said "everything was done" which he took to include brake repairs. The trial judge rejected a claim by the driver that he re-inspected the tractor-trailer before operating it. The driver did not complete a required pre-operation inspection report. The driver did not experience brake problems while operating the tractor-trailer before the accident. The applicant was convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in the operation of a motor vehicle for placing a tractor-trailer in an unsafe condition on a highway.