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.
41307
Melissa Merritt 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.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-12-06 | Close file on Leave | |
| 2024-12-05 | Judgment on leave sent to the parties | |
| 2024-12-05 | Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties | |
| 2024-12-05 |
Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the application for leave to appeal is granted. The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Number CR-16-00001459-0000, dated March 18, 2024, is quashed pursuant to s. 44 of the Supreme Court Act. Quashed |
|
| 2024-12-05 |
Decision on motion to extend time to file and /or serve the leave application, See decision on application Granted |
|
| 2024-10-28 | All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2024-10-28 | Submission of motion to extend time to file and/ or serve the leave application, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2024-08-12 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), 23B, (Printed version filed on 2024-08-13) | Melissa Merritt |
| 2024-08-12 | Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Completed on: 2024-08-12, (Printed version filed on 2024-08-13) | Melissa Merritt |
| 2024-07-24 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), 23A | His Majesty the King |
| 2024-07-24 | Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2024-07-25, (Printed version filed on 2024-07-29) | His Majesty the King |
| 2024-06-03 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED | |
| 2024-05-30 | Motion to extend the time to file and or serve the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2024-06-03, (Printed version filed on 2024-06-03) | Melissa Merritt |
| 2024-05-30 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B, (Printed version filed on 2024-06-03) | Melissa Merritt |
| 2024-05-30 |
Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A Amended version required, (Printed version filed on 2024-06-03) |
Melissa Merritt |
| 2024-05-30 | Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2024-10-29, (Printed version filed on 2024-06-03) | Melissa Merritt |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merritt, Melissa | Applicant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| His Majesty the King | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: Merritt, Melissa
Counsel
Robert Nanni
103 Church Street, Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 2G3
Telephone: (416) 297-7200 Ext: 102
Email: halfyard@danielbrownlaw.ca
Agent
340 Gilmour Street
Suite 100
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca
Party: His Majesty the King
Counsel
Elise Nakelsky
720 Bay Street
10th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2S9
Telephone: (416) 326-4600
FAX: (416) 326-4656
Email: Etienne.Lacombe@ontario.ca
Summary
Keywords
Charter of Rights and Freedoms — Right to liberty — Presumption of innocence — Right not to be tried again — Criminal law — Appeals —Appeals to Supreme Court of Canada — Where a directed verdict application is wrongly dismissed, a jury cannot reach a verdict and Crown counsel re-prosecutes the accused, is it unconstitutional and contrary to ss. 7, 11(d) or 11(h) of the Charter to have no right of appeal from the directed verdict ruling — What is the proper approach on a directed verdict application to the weighing of ambiguous audio recording in a wholly circumstantial case — Can the applications judge consider the content of a recording as part of the permissible limited weighing in exercising their gatekeeping role or does any interception, even one of poor quality, have to be left to the jury?
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.
In a trial before a jury on two counts of first degree murder, the trial judge dismissed an application for directed verdicts of acquittals. There is no right to appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario from the decision dismissing the application for a directed verdict. Ms. Merritt was acquitted on one count of murder by the jury but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in relation to the second count of murder. The trial judge declared a mistrial in respect of that count.
Lower court rulings
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
CR-16-00001459-0000
Acquittal by jury on one count of murder; mistrial declared on one count
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
Not available
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
Not available