Case information

Criminal law — Defences — Self-defence — Whether the majority of the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories erred in law in holding that the trial judge did not err by assessing the evidence based on an unduly restrictive interpretation of the term “force” in s. 34(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46.

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The appellant, Hannah Lafferty, was charged with dangerous driving causing death. On the date of the offence, Ms. Lafferty drove an individual she was dating to his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and waited in her truck while he went inside. Shortly after, the ex-girlfriend approached the truck, opened the driver’s door, and as Ms. Lafferty drove off, held onto the truck while Ms. Lafferty accelerated and swerved in an attempt to shake her off, during which the open door struck and killed a bystander. The trial judge found that both the actus reus and mens rea of the offence were established, concluded that the defence of self-defence failed on the first and third prongs of s. 34 of the Criminal Code, and accordingly convicted Ms. Lafferty. Ms. Lafferty appealed the conviction, but the majority of the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the trial judge’s analysis of self-defence. Justice Mossey, dissenting, would have allowed the appeal and remitted the matter back to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories for a new trial, concluding that the trial judge interpreted the term “force” in s. 34(1)(a) too narrowly.