R. v. Boisvenue
The trial judge erred by refusing to accept a joint submission for a conditional discharge without explaining why a discharge would be contrary to the public interest given the abbreviated record and the joint position of Crown and defence; the appropriate remedy is to set aside the sentence and impose the...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- C24168
- Parties
- Respondent: Her Majesty the Queen; Appellant: Richard Larry Boisvenue
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 18 June 1999
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal Appeal / Appeal From Sentence (court of Appeal)
- Outcome
- Leave granted; appeal allowed; sentence set aside; conditional discharge imposed in accordance with the joint submission.
- Legal Topics
- Conditional Discharge, Joint Submission, Probation, Public Interest, Sentencing Discretion, Appeal on Sentence
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Her Majesty the Queen
Respondent
Richard Larry Boisvenue
Appellant
Procedural Posture
Criminal Appeal / Appeal From Sentence (court of Appeal)
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the trial judge erred in rejecting a joint submission for a conditional discharge without providing adequate reasons
- 2 Whether a conditional discharge was the appropriate disposition in the circumstances
- 3 Whether a sentencing judge must explain why granting a discharge would be contrary to the public interest when rejecting a joint submission
Ratio Decidendi
The trial judge erred by refusing to accept a joint submission for a conditional discharge without explaining why a discharge would be contrary to the public interest given the abbreviated record and the joint position of Crown and defence; the appropriate remedy is to set aside the sentence and impose the conditional discharge agreed to in the joint submission.
Court Disposition
Leave granted; appeal allowed; sentence set aside; conditional discharge imposed in accordance with the joint submission.
Orders
- Leave granted
- Appeal allowed
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
R. v. Boisvenue Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 1999-06-18 Docket numbers C24168 Judges Osborne, Coulter Arthur Anthony; Catzman, Marvin Adrian; Farley, James Montague Subject Criminal Decision Content DATE: 19990618 DOCKET: C24168 COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) v. RICHARD LARRY BOISVENUE (Appellant) BEFORE: OSBORNE A.C.J.O., CATZMAN J.A. and FARLEY J. ad hoc COUNSEL: Peter Copeland for the appellant Tina Yuen for the respondent HEARD: June 15, 1999 On appeal from sentence imposed by G.R. Matte J. on February 19, 1996 ENDORSEMENT [1] Counsel for the Crown and defence at trial jointly submitted that the appellant receive a conditional discharge for five years on the general basis that as Crown counsel at trial put it, “I can see no valid reason from the Crown’s perspective for saddling Richard with a criminal record as a result of these facts.” [2] Instead of accepting this joint submission, the trial judge suspended the passing of sentence and placed the appellant on probation for 18 months. The trial judge stated that it would be against the public interest to grant a discharge, that is to accept the joint submission. He did not explain in his reasons why he concluded that a conditional discharge would be contrary to the public interest. [3] In this court, Crown counsel quite appropriately conceded that a conditional discharge was an appropriate disposition in the circumstances. However, the Crown submitted that the sentence imposed by the trial judge was also an appropriate sentence and that the trial judge was entitled to reject the joint submission. [4] In our view, the trial judge erred in not accepting the joint submission having regard to the somewhat abbreviated record that was placed before him on the appellant’s plea of guilty. [5] Thus, leave is granted. The appeal is allowed. The sentence imposed below will be set aside and instead a sentence in accordance with the joint submission, that is a conditional discharge on the terms set out in the joint submission, will be imposed.