R. v. Haevischer

R. v. Haevischer

The court dismissed the defence application for disclosure of the Knowledge Materials and for production of Additional Materials in the hands of third parties because the defence already had sufficient disclosure, supplemented by Crown admissions and new interview material admitted on re-opening, to fairly advance the Stay Application; the third party WPP/CSC records are not 'fruits of the investigation' nor likely relevant under O'Connor and are subject to privilege and statutory prohibition under the WPPA, and the Court of Appeal's prior factual findings are binding and undermine the relevance of further production.

Citation
2024 BCSC 1635
Parties
Crown/prosecutor: Rex; Accused/applicant: Cody Rae Haevischer; Intervenor/representative of Rcmp/wpp: Attorney General of Canada
Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
4 September 2024
Procedural Posture
Application for Disclosure in Support of an Application for a Judicial Stay of Proceedings (abuse of Process) / Pre Trial Evidentiary Disclosure Hearing and Limited Re Opening; Stay Application Scheduled for Evidentiary Hearing
Outcome
Disclosure application dismissed in respect of Knowledge Materials and Additional Materials; limited re-opening permitted; provincial Crown ordered to disclose revised Redacted Materials consistent with sealed reasons
Legal Topics
Witness Protection Program, Disclosure Obligations (stinchcombe), Third Party Production (o'connor), Public Interest Privilege, Allegation of Perjury, Abuse of Process Doctrine
Source Language
English
Criminal Law Procedural Law Evidence Law Administrative Law Witness Protection Program Disclosure Obligations (stinchcombe) Third Party Production (o'connor) Public Interest Privilege +2 more

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Parties

Rex

Crown/prosecutor

Cody Rae Haevischer

Accused/applicant

Attorney General of Canada

Intervenor/representative of Rcmp/wpp

Procedural Posture

Application for Disclosure in Support of an Application for a Judicial Stay of Proceedings (abuse of Process) / Pre Trial Evidentiary Disclosure Hearing and Limited Re Opening; Stay Application Scheduled for Evidentiary Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Crown must disclose 'Knowledge Materials' concerning Crown and police awareness of Person Y's WPP discussions and post-trial custodial arrangements
  2. 2 Whether additional WPP and CSC records in third party hands are first party 'fruits of the investigation' or third party records
  3. 3 Whether the Additional Materials meet the O'Connor 'likely relevance' threshold and should be produced

Ratio Decidendi

The court dismissed the defence application for disclosure of the Knowledge Materials and for production of Additional Materials in the hands of third parties because the defence already had sufficient disclosure, supplemented by Crown admissions and new interview material admitted on re-opening, to fairly advance the Stay Application; the third party WPP/CSC records are not 'fruits of the investigation' nor likely relevant under O'Connor and are subject to privilege and statutory prohibition under the WPPA, and the Court of Appeal's prior factual findings are binding and undermine the relevance of further production.

Court Disposition

Disclosure application dismissed in respect of Knowledge Materials and Additional Materials; limited re-opening permitted; provincial Crown ordered to disclose revised Redacted Materials consistent with sealed reasons

Orders

  • The application for disclosure of Crown and police 'Knowledge Materials' is dismissed.
  • The application for disclosure/production of Additional Materials held by WPP and CSC is dismissed as not likely relevant and subject to privilege/WPPA.