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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.


40464

Dellan McMorris v. His Majesty the King

(Ontario) (Criminal) (By Leave)

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)
2023-03-23 Close file on Leave
2023-03-16 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2023-03-16 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2023-03-16 Decision on motion to extend time to file and /or serve the leave application, The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the application for leave to appeal is dismissed. In any event, had the motion for an extension of time been granted, the application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C63072, 2020 ONCA 844, dated December 29, 2020, would have been dismissed.
Dismissed
2023-02-06 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2023-02-06 Submission of motion to extend time to file and/ or serve the leave application, for consideration by the Court
2022-12-20 Response to the motion to extend the time to file and / or serve the leave application, (Book Form), Completed on: 2022-12-22, (Printed version filed on 2022-12-22) His Majesty the King
2022-12-20 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A, (Printed version filed on 2022-12-22) His Majesty the King
2022-12-20 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2022-12-22, (Printed version filed on 2022-12-22) His Majesty the King
2022-11-30 Letter acknowledging receipt of an incomplete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED: 2022-11-30
2022-11-21 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A, (Printed version filed on 2022-11-21) Dellan McMorris
2022-11-21 Motion to extend the time to file and or serve the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2022-11-21, (Printed version filed on 2022-11-21) Dellan McMorris
2022-11-21 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Missing:
- Signed TC judgment (rec'd 2022-11-30), Completed on: 2022-11-21, (Printed version filed on 2022-11-21)
Dellan McMorris

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
McMorris, Dellan Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
His Majesty the King Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: McMorris, Dellan

Counsel
Names
James Lockyer
Jeffery Couse
Contact information
Lockyer Zaduk Zeeh
100-102 Atlantic Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M6P 1X9
Telephone: (416) 613-0416
FAX: (416) 613-8746
Email: jlockyer@lzzdefence.ca
Agent
Name
Matthew Estabrooks
Contact information
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600 - 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 786-0211
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: matthew.estabrooks@gowlingwlg.com

Party: His Majesty the King

Counsel
Name
Karen Papadopoulos
Contact information
Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario
720 Bay Street - 10th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5X 1K6
Telephone: (416) 919-8814
FAX: (416) 326-4656
Email: karen.papadopoulos@ontario.ca

Summary

Keywords

Criminal law — Evidence — Hearsay — Admissibility — Whether the Seaboyer principles for the admission of defence evidence should govern when the residual discretion to relax a strict rule of evidence in an accused’s favour is exercised?

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.

Mr. Coombs was shot to death by three assailants. Witnesses saw one shooter drop a black hoodie as he fled. Evidence places Mr. McMorris near the scene of the shooting and his DNA was the only DNA found on the hoodie. Mr. Bent pleaded guilty to being one of the shooters but refused to testify at Mr. McMorris’s trial. A witness told police that Mr. Bent told him that he was the shooter who discarded the hoodie, however, in an intercepted jail cell conversation with the same witness, Mr. Bent implicated Mr. McMorris as a shooter. Trafford J. denied motions to admit the witness’s hearsay evidence. A jury convicted Mr. McMorris of first degree murder. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal.

Lower court rulings

June 30, 2016
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

2016 CarswellOnt 10503, 2016 ONSC 4340

Evidence ruled inadmissible

December 29, 2020
Court of Appeal for Ontario

2020 ONCA 844, C63072

Appeal dismissed

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: 2025-09-11