R. v. Smith
The Court concluded the trial judge had considered the inconsistencies relied on by the appellant, accepted the complainant's explanations and denials, and therefore there was no palpable and overriding error in the credibility finding; accordingly the conviction and sentence were upheld.
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- C42742
- Parties
- Appellant: Blaine Robert Smith; Respondent: Her Majesty the Queen
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 15 March 2006
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal Appeal From Conviction and Sentence / Court of Appeal Decision on Appeal From Ontario Court of Justice Conviction and Sentence
- Outcome
- Appeal dismissed; conviction and sentence upheld; leave to appeal sentence granted but the appeal dismissed.
- Legal Topics
- Appeal Against Conviction, Credibility Assessment, Inconsistency in Complainant Evidence, Sexual Assault Evidence, Sentence Appeal
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
More case intelligence is available
Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.
Parties
Blaine Robert Smith
Appellant
Her Majesty the Queen
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal From Conviction and Sentence / Court of Appeal Decision on Appeal From Ontario Court of Justice Conviction and Sentence
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the trial judge failed to consider inconsistencies between the complainant and her former friends regarding statements about sexual activity
- 2 Whether the trial judge properly assessed the complainant's credibility
- 3 Whether the sentence imposed was appropriate
Ratio Decidendi
The Court concluded the trial judge had considered the inconsistencies relied on by the appellant, accepted the complainant's explanations and denials, and therefore there was no palpable and overriding error in the credibility finding; accordingly the conviction and sentence were upheld.
Court Disposition
Appeal dismissed; conviction and sentence upheld; leave to appeal sentence granted but the appeal dismissed.
Orders
- Conviction appeal dismissed.
- Sentence upheld as appropriate.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
R. v. Smith Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 2006-03-15 Docket numbers C42742 Judges Doherty, David H.; Moldaver, Michael James; LaForme, Harry Smith Subject Criminal Decision Content DATE: 20060315 DOCKET: C42742 COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) v. BLAINE ROBERT SMITH (Appellant) BEFORE: DOHERTY, MOLDAVER and LAFORME JJ.A. COUNSEL: Leslie Maunder for the appellant Jeanette Gevikoglu for the respondent HEARD & ENDORSED: March 14, 2006 On appeal from the conviction entered by Justice J.D. Evans of the Ontario Court of Justice dated October 1, 2004 and the sentence imposed on November 25, 2004. APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT [1] The appellant argues that the trial judge failed to consider the inconsistencies between the evidence of the complainant’s former friends and the complainant relating to statements allegedly made by the complainant to her friends. These statements related to the complainant’s sexual activity with people “out west” and with the appellant. The complainant said she made up the stories about the events “out west” and denied saying that she said she had sexual intercourse with the appellant. [2] The trial judge referred to “inconsistencies” in the complainant’s evidence, but found that she was nonetheless credible. We take that reference to include the inconsistencies relied on by the appellant and to indicate that the trial judge accepted the complainant’s evidence explaining some of the inconsistencies and denying the reference to having had sex with the appellant. We are not satisfied that the trial judge failed to address the evidence as submitted by the appellant. [3] The conviction appeal is dismissed. [4] The sentence was appropriate. Leave to appeal sentence is granted. The appeal is dismissed.