R. v. Prates
The appellant failed to demonstrate a reasonable apprehension of bias; the trial judge's remarks, though sometimes discourteous or unnecessary, reflected an appreciation of the formidable evidence and did not indicate bias, and the reasons did not support the claim that the trial judge misused the licence plate...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- C38359
- Parties
- Appellant: Louis Prates; Respondent: Her Majesty the Queen
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 8 January 2004
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal Appeal / Appeal From Convictions to Court of Appeal
- Outcome
- Appeal dismissed
- Legal Topics
- Judicial Bias, Appeals, Evidence Admissibility, Licence Plate Evidence
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Louis Prates
Appellant
Her Majesty the Queen
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal / Appeal From Convictions to Court of Appeal
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether exchanges between the trial judge and counsel during closing arguments gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias
- 2 Whether the trial judge misused licence plate evidence in the reasons for judgment
- 3 Whether comments by the trial judge warranted appellate intervention
Ratio Decidendi
The appellant failed to demonstrate a reasonable apprehension of bias; the trial judge's remarks, though sometimes discourteous or unnecessary, reflected an appreciation of the formidable evidence and did not indicate bias, and the reasons did not support the claim that the trial judge misused the licence plate evidence; therefore the appeal is dismissed.
Court Disposition
Appeal dismissed
Orders
- Appeal dismissed.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
R. v. Prates Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 2004-01-08 Docket numbers C38359 Judges Doherty, David H.; MacPherson, James C.; Simmons, Janet M. Subject Criminal Decision Content DATE: 20040108 DOCKET: C38359 COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) - and - LOUIS PRATES (Appellant) BEFORE: DOHERTY, MACPHERSON and SIMMONS JJ.A. COUNSEL: Gregory Lafontaine for the appellant Jamie Klukach for the respondent HEARD & ENDORSED: January 7, 2004 On appeal from the convictions of Justice B. E. Payne of the Ontario Court of Justice dated May 17, 2002. APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT [1] The appellant argues that the exchanges between the court and counsel during closing arguments reveal a reasonable apprehension of bias. Counsel says it could be reasonably concluded that the judge had decided that the appellant was guilty. [2] We disagree. Counsel carries the burden of demonstrating a reasonable apprehension of bias. Some of the trial judge's comments were discourteous, others were unnecessary. They did not however suggest bias but rather an appreciation of the formidable evidence against the appellant. [3] The reasons for judgment do not support the claim that the trial judge misused the "licence plate" evidence. The appeal is dismissed.