R. v. Thom
The conviction was reasonable because the trial judge could properly infer that the jacket belonged to the appellant from the documents in the wallet and the surrounding circumstances (including the value of the drugs); the alternative that the wallet arrived in the jacket by accident or theft was speculative and...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- 2011 ONCA 401
- Parties
- Respondent: Her Majesty the Queen; Appellant: Kevin Thom
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 24 May 2011
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal / Appeal From Conviction and Sentence; Sentence Appeal Dismissed as Abandoned
- Outcome
- Conviction appeal dismissed; sentence appeal dismissed as abandoned.
- Legal Topics
- Possession of Drugs, Ownership Inference, Circumstantial Evidence, Reasonable Doubt, Sentence Abandonment
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Her Majesty the Queen
Respondent
Kevin Thom
Appellant
Procedural Posture
Criminal / Appeal From Conviction and Sentence; Sentence Appeal Dismissed as Abandoned
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the Crown proved the jacket belonged to the appellant
- 2 Whether it was reasonable to infer ownership from documents found in the wallet in the jacket or whether such an inference was mere speculation
- 3 Whether the conviction was unreasonable on the record
Ratio Decidendi
The conviction was reasonable because the trial judge could properly infer that the jacket belonged to the appellant from the documents in the wallet and the surrounding circumstances (including the value of the drugs); the alternative that the wallet arrived in the jacket by accident or theft was speculative and insufficient to undermine the conviction.
Court Disposition
Conviction appeal dismissed; sentence appeal dismissed as abandoned.
Orders
- Appeal from sentence dismissed as abandoned.
- Conviction appeal dismissed.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
R. v. Thom Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 2011-05-24 Neutral citation 2011 ONCA 401 Docket numbers C52370 Judges Rosenberg, Marc; Lang, Susan Elizabeth; Watt, David Subject Criminal Decision Content CITATION: R. v. Thom, 2011 ONCA 401 DATE: 20110524 DOCKET: C52370 COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO Rosenberg, Lang and Watt JJ.A. BETWEEN Her Majesty the Queen Respondent and Kevin Thom Appellant Robert Sheppard, for the appellant James Clark, for the respondent Heard: May 18, 2011 On appeal from the conviction entered by Justice Wolfram Tausendfreund of the Superior Court of Justice dated December 14, 2009 and from sentence imposed dated April 7, 2010. APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT [1] The appeal from sentence is dismissed as abandoned. [2] The Crown’s case depended upon proof that the jacket belonged to the appellant. Given the value of the drugs, it was unlikely that they had been accidentally left in someone else’s jacket. In our view, given the nature of the documents found in the wallet in the jacket, it was open to the trial judge to infer that the jacket belonged to the lawful owner of the wallet, the appellant. On this record, it was no more than speculation that the wallet came to be in the jacket through misadventure or because it was stolen. [3] Accordingly, the conviction was not unreasonable and the appeal is dismissed.