Case information

Charter of Rights — Right to be tried within a reasonable time — Fair trial — Criminal law —Apprehension of bias — Dangerous offender proceedings — Is the presumption of judicial integrity and impartiality absolute and consistent with Charter values — Whether presumption should operate in dangerous offender proceedings where trial judge declared offender dangerous in bail proceedings and trial judge was replaced for purposes of sentencing by his first cousin without either judge declaring their relationship to the parties — Whether deadlines under s. 752.1 of Criminal Code with respect to dangerous offender assessment of an accused person and delivery of a report are mandatory or discretionary and for the benefit of the Crown — What is a reasonable ceiling for post conviction delay in dangerous offender cases?

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.

Mr. Valle Quintero was convicted on three counts of assault, wilful damage to the complainant’s vehicle, threatening to cause death or bodily harm, attempt to obstruct justice, breach of a recognizance order, and breach of a court order. The Crown applied to declare him a dangerous offender. The trial judge was replaced by his first cousin who presided over the sentencing proceedings, declared Mr. Valle Quintero a dangerous offender, and ordered an indeterminate sentence. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from the convictions and sentence.