Case information

Criminal law — Appeals — Assessment of evidence — Whether Court of Appeal erred in dismissing motion for summary rejection of respondent’s brief — Whether Court of Appeal erred in interpreting transcript of February 1, 2021 as indicating that applicant had purposely intended not to return to courtroom — Whether Court of Appeal erred in not allowing applicant to play videos during hearing of appeal — Whether Court of Appeal misinterpreted video evidence by failing to consider evidence that was favourable to applicant, resulting in miscarriage of justice.

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.

The applicant, Émile Yombo, was charged with two counts of sexual assault; he was alleged to have intentionally touched the buttocks of two young women he did not know after following them for a certain time. At the time of the incidents, the applicant was subject to a long-term supervision order.

The Court of Québec convicted the applicant of two counts of sexual assault and two counts of failure to comply with the conditions of a supervision order. The Quebec Court of Appeal struck the statement in the respondent’s brief that the applicant had threatened the judge during the trial proceedings, and it dismissed the applicant’s appeal from his conviction on the four charges.