In what has been described as a “medieval-style attack on science,” Italian prosecutors have charged six seismologists and one public official with manslaughter for their role in an earthquake that devastated the town of L’Aquila. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake took the town by surprise on April 9, 2009, resulting in over 300 deaths. The prosecution’s case [...]

June 2011 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the first reported cases of HIV/AIDS in the United States, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton commemorated the sombre occasion by recalling the disease’s history. In her remarks on June 5, Clinton noted that in the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, “the world was shocked [...]

The justices on the Court of Appeal for Ontario diligently erect an architectural analogy to better understand the legal issues at hand in R. v. Campbell. At the centre of the case is the question of whether the accused’s Charter right was violated when the police searched his rented room. Before the case reached the [...]

As the story goes, Mr. Salmon became involved with a 17-year-old woman, induced her to become a prostitute, and proceeded to claim the majority of her earnings. After approximately two weeks, the woman walked into a Peel Regional Police Service (PRPS) office to file her complaint. She told the officers where Mr. Salmon was staying, and [...]

Few issues have the power to invoke a more potent and severely personal response than that of sexual assault. It is, at its core, an indefensible act. It should follow, one would like to believe, that the Canadian justice system – whether it be Parliament or the Judiciary – would have the law surrounding sexual [...]

On April 8, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decided in a 5-2 judgment that fresh evidence that could reasonably be expected to affect the result of a verdict was sufficient to order a new trial in “he said, she said” sexual assault cases.  The majority in R. v. J.A.A., 2011 SCC 17, found that [...]

This case will not win a Golden Gavel any time soon; that, I can assure you. There is no crying victim or menacing villain. Had it not been for one peculiar fact, this case would be very typical of its jurisdiction. This case is unusual because the accused absconded (presumably returning to Germany), and his [...]

Another Weekend Out-on-the-Town Timmothy Field, an ordinary 18 year-old Calgary teen, was out partying with friends on a Friday night. They went to two clubs, and then went back to his residence where they were drinking and playing video games until 4am. He and his friends left early that Saturday morning at 8:30am with little [...]

A possible misstatement by a British Columbia trial judge has led to the order of a new trial in R. v. Sue, 2011 BCCA 91.  In the decision released March 2, the majority of the B.C. Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) found that the erroneous statement made by the Provincial Court’s Judge Bagnall, who said that [...]

Facts & Background: What started out as a normal night out in 2004 turned quickly into a tragedy. There was a bush party on the Penticton Indian reserve in British Columbia, and many of the partygoers were under the influence, with alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in full supply. Dustin Paul was 23 years old, high [...]