Case information
Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.
40384
His Majesty the King v. Robert Major
(Saskatchewan) (Criminal) (By Leave)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-03-10 | Close file on Leave | |
| 2023-03-02 | Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties | |
| 2023-03-02 | Judgment on leave sent to the parties | |
| 2023-03-02 |
Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the response is granted. The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, Number CACR3223, 2022 SKCA 80, dated July 20, 2022, is dismissed. Dismissed |
|
| 2023-03-02 |
Decision on motion to extend time, See decision on the application Granted |
|
| 2023-01-30 | All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2023-01-30 | Submission of motion to extend time, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2022-12-05 | Correspondence received from, Re: Confirmation of the Applicant's consent to the respondent’s motion for extension of time | His Majesty the King |
| 2022-12-02 | Motion to extend time, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2022-12-12, (Printed version filed on 2022-12-05) | Robert Major |
| 2022-11-24 | Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Completed on: 2022-11-30, (Printed version filed on 2022-11-24) | His Majesty the King |
| 2022-11-17 | Certificate (on limitations to public access) | Robert Major |
| 2022-11-17 |
Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), REQUIRED: - Motion to extend time (rec'd 2022-12-02), Completed on: 2022-12-12, (Printed version filed on 2022-12-05) |
Robert Major |
| 2022-10-17 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED 2022-10-17 | |
| 2022-09-29 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), 23A | His Majesty the King |
| 2022-09-29 | Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2022-07-29, (Printed version filed on 2022-09-29) | His Majesty the King |
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
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| His Majesty the King | Applicant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Major, Robert | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: His Majesty the King
Counsel
300 - 1874 Scarth Street
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 4B3
Telephone: (306) 787-5490
FAX: (306) 787-8878
Email: erin.bartsch@gov.sk.ca
Agent
160 Elgin Street
Suite 2600
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 786-8695
FAX: (613) 788-3509
Email: lynne.watt@gowlingwlg.com
Party: Major, Robert
Counsel
Thomas Hynes
311-21st Street East
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7K 0C1
Telephone: (306) 653-5656
FAX: (866) 869-2959
Email: brian@pfefferlelaw.com
Agent
1800 - 275 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 5H9
Telephone: (613) 691-1224
FAX: (613) 691-1338
Email: mdillon@supremelawgroup.ca
Summary
Keywords
Criminal law — Evidence — Admissibility — Whether data from motor vehicle event data recorder is sufficiently reliable to be admitted as real evidence
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.
The respondent drove his pickup truck at high speed into an intersection where it collided with a semi-truck to whom the respondent was required to yield. The collision killed three of his six passengers and injured the three others; none of them were wearing seatbelts. An experienced RCMP accident reconstructionist extracted relevant information about the vehicle’s speed and brake application in the seconds preceding the collision from the pickup truck’s event data recorder (“EDR”). The reconstructionist had the technical skills and tools to extract this information but was not familiar with the underlying function of the EDR or the software tools he used to complete the extraction. The data he extracted appeared to show that the respondent was travelling more than 50 km/h over the speed limit until he applied the brakes 1.2 seconds before the collision. The applicant Crown sought to lead this data at the respondent’s trial. The trial judge admitted the data. The respondent was found guilty of dangerous driving and criminal negligence. The Court of Appeal allowed the respondent’s appeal and ordered a new trial.
Lower court rulings
Court of Queen’s Bench of Saskatchewan
CRM 28 of 2017
EDR data admitted by trial judge. Jury returns guilty verdict on all counts. Dangerous driving counts stayed pursuant to Kienapple and convictions entered on criminal negligence counts.
Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
2022 SKCA 80, CACR3223
Appeal allowed in relation to evidentiary ruling and matter remitted for new trial.
Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal
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 filing 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
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Related links
Factums on appeal
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
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