Unreasonable Verdict Appeals Rarely Succeed But Here Is A Case Where One Did…
R. v. Dodd, 2015 ONCA 286: The authority for a court of appeal to determine whether a jury reached an unreasonable verdict is found in s. 686(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal…
James C Morton
Self Defence in Homicide
R. v. Makpah, 2015 NUCJ 12: Defence of Person The law respecting the ‘defence of person’ defence, whether it be self-defence and/or defence of other persons, is clear. The Crown…
Decision delayed on whether to unseal evidence in case that could reveal Harper family secrets
For once I am inclining to agree with a publication ban. I base this on the assumption the judge likely had a pretty good reason to place a ban. Courts…
DURESS AVAILABLE AS A DEFENCE TO MURDER
R. v. Aravena, 2015 ONCA 250: The common law defence of duress has been available to persons charged as parties to murder in Ontario for at least 35 years. We…
City Council cannot start with prayer
Mouvement laïque québécois v.Saguenay (City), 2015 SCC 16 The state’s duty of religious neutrality results from an evolving interpretation of freedom of conscience and religion. The evolution of Canadian society…
Mandatory minimum gun sentences unconstitutional
R. v. Nur, 2015 SCC 15: When a mandatory minimum sentencing provision is challenged under s. 12, two questions arise. The first is whether the provision imposes cruel and unusual…
The inherent frailties in identification evidence
R. v. Olliffe, 2015 ONCA 242: The inherent frailties in identification evidence are well known and have been the subject of considerable judicial comment and review in social science literature.…
Browne v. Dunn
R. v. Quansah,2015 ONCA 237 : In Browne v. Dunn, Lord Herschell, L.C., explained that if a party intended to impeach a witness called by an opposite party, the party…
Adverse Possession under the Registry Act
McClatchie v. Rideau Lakes (Township), 2015 ONCA 233: 9] Before turning to the trial judge’s decision and the issues raised by the appellant, I will briefly review the law of…
Courts may use Google Maps
R. v. Ghaleenovee, 2015 ONSC 1707: The Court of Appeal has specifically found that a trial judge may rely on Google Maps when taking judicial notice as a readily accessible…
Commencement of limitation period
Bennett v. J.K. (Jim) Moore Ltd. (Jim Moore Petroleum), 2015 ONCA 217: According to s. 5(1)(b) of the Limitations Act, the limitation period starts to run when a reasonable person…
Mortgage Enforcement Actions Must Now Be Brought In Region Where Property Charged is Located
On March 31, 2015, rule 13.1.01 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure is amended by adding the following new subrule (3): Mortgage Claims(3) In the case of an originating…
Relief from forfeiture
Varajao v. Azish, 2015 ONCA 218: The trial judge correctly noted that in order to obtain relief from forfeiture the appellants were required to establish that i) the forfeited sum…
Threats that can amount to extortion
R. v. Alexander (2005), 206 C.C.C. (3d) 233 (Ont. C.A.) the accused was convicted of extortion for a threat that was not otherwise criminal. In that case the accused’s wife…