Last week, the SCC dismissed the appeal of Robert Pickton in R. v. Pickton, 2010 SCC 32 [Pickton II], upholding the majority decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in R. v. Pickton, 2009 BCCA 299 [Pickton I]. The SCC affirmed that impugned jury instructions did not negatively impact the fairness of the trial, [...]

Last week, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that former Toronto Maple Leafs Captain Rob Ramage will serve the four year prison term given to him at trial for impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death. The convictions relate to a 2003 head-on collision that killed Mr. Ramage’s passenger in the car, former [...]

This month the SCC denied leave to appeal in the case of R. v. Carpenter, 2010 BCCA 27. This was an appeal of the British Columbia Supreme Court decision in R. v. Carpenter, 2006 BCSC 1936. The primary issue was whether or not a judge, before admitting similar fact evidence, must be convinced beyond a [...]

In light of allegations of police brutality at the G20 World Summit, the recently-decided case of R. v. Tran, 2010 ONCA 471 is of particular significance. Released last week, the case involved multiple grounds of appeal surrounding a stream of violent home robberies. Accused Quang Hoang Tran appealed the judicial remedy granted after his Charter [...]

Last week the SCC released its decision in R. v. Conway, 2010 SCC 22. At issue in Conway was whether or not the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) has the authority to grant remedies under s. 24(1) of the Charter. As noted by the SCC, the “wider issue [was] the relationship between the Charter, its remedial [...]

Aptly described by Fish J. as the “third chapter in a tale of two statements,” the SCC’s recent decision in R. v. S.G.T., 2010 SCC 20, provides clarity on the confessions and derived confessions rules. The plot of the “tale” involved  a stepfather, S.G.T., accused of allegedly sexually assaulting his teenage stepdaughter A. S.G.T. was [...]

On May 14, 2010 the SCC released its judgment in R. v. Hurley, 2010 SCC 18, which addresses the current state of the law with respect to Vetrovec warnings. In the proceeding, the prosecution relied on the testimony of a jailhouse informant who had a motive to lie and was thus considered to be lacking [...]

In R. v. Szczerbaniwicz, 2010 SCC 15, the SCC took its first crack at interpreting s. 39(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada. Section 39(1) provides a defence where the accused commits a criminal offence while defending his or her peaceable possession of personal property, as long as “he [or she] uses no more force [...]

Last month, the SCC unanimously dismissed the appeal of R. v. Briscoe, 2010 SCC 13 and confirmed that a new trial was necessary. The Briscoe decision provides an interesting analysis into both the prosecutorial decisions of the Attorney General and the mens rea requirement for party offences. In particular, the decision clarifies the wilful blindness [...]

(The Court returns after a week transitioning from our 2009-2010 academic-year editorial team to our summer editors. We thank our readers for their patience during this break. From May 3 through to the end of August, we move to our summer publication schedule of three postings per week [usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays] with occasional [...]