Canada Case Law

R. v. Ross

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Crown met the s.31.1 CEA authentication threshold because there was evidence capable of supporting a finding that the Cellebrite Reports are copies of what was on the seized Devices: no evidence undermined the operation of the Devices or the Cellebrite tools (s.31.3(a)), and substantial extrinsic corroboration of device activity reinforced authenticity. The witnesses provided admissible factual evidence of the extraction and report generation; expert qualification was unnecessary for those factual descriptions, so the reports are admissible and their weight is for trial.

Source excerpt

• Authentication of electronic evidence
• Canada evidence act s.31.1-31.3
• Cellebrite extraction
• Admissibility of electronic documents
• Expert evidence vs lay testimony

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R. v. Francois

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Eugene Francois’s sentence appeal, upholding a 76-month custodial sentence for sexual exploitation, child pornography and voyeurism.

• Sexual exploitation
• Child pornography
• Voyeurism
• Consecutive sentences
• Pre-sentence custody credit
• Aggravating factors

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R. v. Mathiesen

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Considering the extreme size and depravity of the collection, the primacy of denunciation and deterrence for child sexual exploitation, and mitigating factors including guilty plea, first-offender status and agreed remand credit, a global custodial sentence of 682 days reduced by Summers/Duncan credit of 391 days yields a net custodial sentence of 290 days imprisonment followed by 36 months probation; ancillary orders (DNA, 20-year SOIRA, 5-year s.161, forfeiture) are appropriate; mandatory one-year minimums are conceded to violate s.12 and are moot for sentencing here.

Source excerpt

• Possession of child pornography
• Accessing child pornography
• Mandatory minimum challenge (s.12 charter)
• Pre-sentence custody credit (duncan/summers)
• Conditional sentence eligibility
• Ancillary orders (dna, soira, forfeiture)

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R. v. Boodhoo

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The trial judge did not err in declining to give a Vetrovec warning because the complainant was not an unsavoury witness and the jury was adequately instructed and informed of credibility issues; the jury instructions on procurement were adequate because the nature of the relationship and the impact on the complainant were evident from the evidence; the sentencing judge erred by relying on violence findings inconsistent with acquittals but that error did not make the sentence unfit once violence was removed, reducing the procurement sentence to 40 months; fresh evidence for Boodhoo was admiss…

Source excerpt

• Vetrovec warning (credibility directions)
• Procurement (s.286.3(2))
• Jury instructions
• Sentencing principles and aggravating factors
• Fresh evidence on appeal
• Publication restriction (s.486.4)

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R. v. Coban

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The defence sought leave to cross-examine a Facebook records custodian on electronic-records affidavits. The court denied the application, finding the issues did not justify viva voce evidence.

• Authenticity and integrity of electronic records
• Canada evidence act ss.30 and 31
• Business records rule
• Cross-examination of affidavit deponent
• Admissibility voir dire
• Sextortion

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R. v. Ramelson

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal allowed the Crown appeal, held Project Raphael qualified as a bona fide police inquiry into the escorts section of Backpage, concluded the police had reasonable suspicion tied to that virtual space (and it was sufficiently precise and narrowly scoped), and therefore police were permitted to offer the opportunity to commit offences to respondents without individualized reasonable suspicion; accordingly the trial judge erred in staying proceedings for entrapment and the stay was set aside and matter remitted for sentencing.

Source excerpt

• Entrapment
• Bona fide inquiry
• Reasonable suspicion
• Undercover online investigations
• Child luring
• Communicating to obtain sexual services

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