Canada Case Law

R v. MacIsaac

Court

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

The court found the AV alert admissible and reliable electronic evidence linking the alert time (3:57 a.m.) to the vehicle crash and therefore to the time operation ceased; the accused was the driver; the first breath sample at 5:21 a.m. (120 mg/100 ml) fell within the two‑hour offence window and proved the s.320.14(b) exceeding offence beyond a reasonable doubt; the s.320.14(a) impaired charge arose from the same facts and was conditionally stayed to avoid double punishment. The court further held that where s.320.31(4) is relied upon the Crown must prove the time of last driving within a re…

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• Impaired driving
• Over 80 mg offence (exceeding)
• Electronic evidence (automated vehicle alerts)
• Section 320.31(4) extrapolation/presumption
• Third‑party suspect defence
• Time of last driving

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Further Detention of Things Seized (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court granted a further detention order for seized firearms-related items until June 30, 2025, finding the investigation complex and the balance of justice in favour of detention.

• Further detention of seized property
• Section 490(3) and 490(9.1) criminal code
• Complexity of investigation
• Interests of justice balancing
• Return of seized items
• Seized-property-detention

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R. v. Harkness

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court acquitted Corey Richard Harkness of second-degree murder after finding the sole eyewitness unreliable and the forensic evidence left a reasonable doubt.

• Identification of accused
• Eyewitness credibility
• Bloodstain pattern analysis
• Gunshot residue
• Toxicology
• Trajectory analysis

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R. v. Kueth

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Supreme Court of British Columbia found Jaal Routh Kueth guilty of aggravated assault after accepting the complainant’s evidence and corroborating CCTV and photo evidence.

• Aggravated assault
• Witness credibility
• Cctv evidence
• Burden of proof
• Wound / serious bodily harm
• Aggravated-assault

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Further Detention of Things Seized (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court granted further detention of seized things for eight months, finding the murder investigation sufficiently complex and ongoing but refusing the Crown’s longer request.

• Section 490 criminal code
• Further detention of seized property
• Search warrants
• Data extraction and forensic analysis
• Sealing order
• Criminal-law

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R. v. Whynder-Ewing

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The joint submission was accepted because it was the product of good-faith negotiation, connected to an acceptable range of sentences for manslaughter with a firearm, and was not so markedly out of line as to undermine public confidence; accordingly the agreed sentence structure (six years reduced to five, then 24 months Summers credit yielding a three-year go-forward custodial sentence) and the agreed ancillary orders were imposed.

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• Manslaughter
• Joint sentencing submission
• Remand credit
• Summers credit
• Weapons prohibition
• Dna sampling

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Application for the taking of bodily substances for the purpose of forensic DNA analysis (Re)

Court

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

The application for a DNA order was denied because the affiant materially failed to disclose two prior judicial refusals in the ITO; such nondisclosure undermines the required full and accurate disclosure for ex parte warrant applications and prevents a judge from properly exercising discretion, so the order must be refused.

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• Dna order
• Section 487.05
• Ex parte warrants
• Full disclosure
• Material nondisclosure
• Judge shopping

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R. v. Aster

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court acquitted Justin Kyle Aster of five arson and criminal negligence counts after finding the Crown had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he set the Econo Lodge fire.

• Criminal negligence causing death
• Arson - disregard for human life
• Circumstantial evidence
• Expert opinion evidence
• Mixed statement rule
• Standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt

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R. v. Harty

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court held the trial judge's jury charge was adequate when read as a whole: the judge's comments and summaries were grounded in the evidence, permissible judicial commentary, and did not unfairly denigrate the defence or usurp the jury's fact‑finding role; the judge sufficiently related defence evidence to the issues and any imprecision was not reversible error, therefore the appeal is dismissed.

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• Second-degree murder
• Discharge of a firearm with intent
• Jury charge adequacy
• Reasonable doubt
• Witness credibility
• Expert testimony

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R. v. Hussein

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal dismissed the conviction appeal and upheld the trial judge's Corbett ruling and limiting instructions, finding no error in principle or unreasonable exercise of discretion in admitting the accused's full criminal record for credibility; it found no requirement to add a jury charge on police-investigation adequacy given the limited role of that theme at trial; and although leave was granted to appeal sentence the 13-year parole ineligibility was upheld as neither unfit nor based on an error in principle, with the trial judge properly considering juror recommendations and re…

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• Corbett application
• Use of prior convictions to impeach credibility
• Similar fact evidence
• Jury instructions
• Adequacy of police investigation
• Parole ineligibility under s.745.2

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