R. v. Collins

R. v. Collins Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 2015-07-29 Neutral citation 2015 ONCA 561 Docket numbers C57885 Judges Doherty, David H.; Gillese, Eileen E.; Brown, David M. Subject Criminal Decision Content WARNING The President of the panel hearing this appeal directs that the following should be attached to the file: An order restricting publication in this proceeding under ss. 486.4(1), (2), (3) or (4) or 486.6(1) or (2) of the Criminal Code shall continue. These sections of the Criminal Code provide: 486.4 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the presiding judge or justice may make an order directing that any information that could identify the complainant or a witness shall not be published in any document or broadcast or transmitted in any way, in proceedings in respect of (a) any of the following offences; (i) an offence under section 151, 152, 153, 153.1, 155, 159, 160, 162, 163.1, 170, 171, 171.1, 172, 172.1, 172.2, 173, 210, 211, 212, 213, 271, 272, 273, 279.01, 279.011, 279.02, 279.03, 280, 281, 346 or 347, (ii) an offence under section 144 (rape), 145 (attempt to commit rape), 149 (indecent assault on female), 156 (indecent assault on male) or 245 (common assault) or subsection 246(1) (assault with intent) of the Criminal Code, chapter C-34 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, as it read immediately before January 4, 1983, or (iii) an offence under subsection 146(1) (sexual intercourse with a female under 14) or (2) (sexual intercourse with a female between 14 and 16) or section 151 (seduction of a female between 16 and 18), 153 (sexual intercourse with step-daughter), 155 (buggery or bestiality), 157 (gross indecency), 166 (parent or guardian procuring defilement) or 167 (householder permitting defilement) of the Criminal Code, chapter C-34 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, as it read immediately before January 1, 1988; or (b) two or more offences being dealt with in the same proceeding, at least one of which is an offence referred to in any of subparagraphs (a)(i) to (iii). (2) In proceedings in respect of the offences referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), the presiding judge or justice shall (a) at the first reasonable opportunity, inform any witness under the age of eighteen years and the complainant of the right to make an application for the order; and (b) on application made by the complainant, the prosecutor or any such witness, make the order. (3) In proceedings in respect of an offence under section 163.1, a judge or justice shall make an order directing that any information that could identify a witness who is under the age of eighteen years, or any person who is the subject of a representation, written material or a recording that constitutes child pornography within the meaning of that section, shall not be published in any document or broadcast or transmitted in any way. (4) An order made under this section does not apply in respect of the disclosure of information in the course of the administration of justice when it is not the purpose of the disclosure to make the information known in the community. 2005, c. 32, s. 15, c. 43, s. 8;2010, c. 3, s. 5;2012, c. 1, s. 29. 486.6 (1) Every person who fails to comply with an order made under subsection 486.4(1), (2) or (3) or 486.5(1) or (2) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. (2) For greater certainty, an order referred to in subsection (1) applies to prohibit, in relation to proceedings taken against any person who fails to comply with the order, the publication in any document or the broadcasting or transmission in any way of information that could identify a victim, witness or justice system participant whose identity is protected by the order. 2005, c. 32, s. 15. COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO CITATION: R. v. Collins, 2015 ONCA 561 DATE: 20150728 DOCKET: C57885 Doherty, Gillese and Brown JJ.A. BETWEEN Her Majesty the Queen Respondent and Vincent Collins Appellant Michael Dineen, for the appellant M. Medeiros, for the respondent Heard: July 23, 2015 On appeal from the conviction entered by Justice Fitzpatrick of the Superior Court of Justice, dated November 20, 2012. APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT [1] The appeal must be allowed. [2] The fresh evidence establishes that the so called “phone charger” incident occurred in November 2007. The trial judge, on the evidence he heard, placed the incident as occurring between November 2006 and June 2007. [3] The trial judge used that erroneous date to fix a chronology of the four alleged assaults which led him to draw a distinction between the first three sexual assaults on which he acquitted and the fourth on which he convicted. When the phone charger incident is placed in its proper place in the chronology (November 2007), the distinction relied on by the trial judge to come to his conviction on the fourth assault disappears. [4] In receiving the fresh evidence, we accept the submission that, while it was obviously available at the time of trial, the importance of the timing of the “phone charger” incident could not reasonably have been anticipated prior to a reading of the trial judge’s reasons. [5] The appeal is allowed, the conviction quashed and a new trial is ordered on counts 6 and 7.