Criminal
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September 27, 2024
Pyrrhic victory in 2020 assault decision
After Severin Manov could not come up with $50,000 on Jan. 25, 2020, he expected he would be killed.
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September 27, 2024
Waiving drug offenses for admission to the U.S.
The United States treats drug offences very seriously, and foreign nationals should be attentive to U.S. laws about drugs that may impact their ability to enter the United States.
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September 26, 2024
Former Brampton lawyer who stole $3.2M, believing he was dying, gets 5-year sentence
A former, Brampton, Ont.-based lawyer who stole more than $3.2 million he received in trust from his clients when he believed he was terminally ill has been sentenced to five years in prison.
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September 26, 2024
Nova Scotia appeal court takes trip to Cape Breton
Nova Scotia’s Court of Appeal has left its nest in Halifax and hit the road in a bid to make itself more accessible to the public. For its first-ever venture away from the Halifax Law Courts building, the province’s highest court will sit in the Sydney area, on Cape Breton Island, for the week of Sept. 23.
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September 25, 2024
SCC advances law of evidence in assault case
It started in a school washroom in February 2016 and ended in the Supreme Court of Canada in September 2024 (R. v. Charles, [2024] S.C.J. No. 29).
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September 25, 2024
OSC Study: AI-enhanced scams pose greater threat to Canadian investors
Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhanced scams pose a greater risk to Canadian investors than conventional scams, according to a study by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
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September 25, 2024
Class action seeks compensation for alleged abuse of Indigenous students at Alberta school
A proposed Alberta class action alleges that Indigenous students at a school in Bonnyville, Alta., were subjected to frequent physical, psychological and sexual abuse from September 1966 to June 1974.
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September 25, 2024
Split SCC quashes convictions, orders new trial in judgment on hearsay and corroborative evidence
In a 4-3 ruling on hearsay and corroborative evidence, the Supreme Court of Canada has quashed convictions for weapons offences and ordered a new trial because of the erroneous admission into evidence at trial of a witness’s out‑of‑court statement that lacked the requisite indicia of reliability.
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September 25, 2024
EVIDENCE - Admissibility - Hearsay rule - Exceptions - Necessary and reliable evidence
Appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of Quebec which upheld the convictions of the appellant for assault with a weapon, using an imitation firearm in the commission of assault and uttering threats. The appellant, in the presence of KA and Fares, threatened the complainant with what looked like a pistol. The next day, KA was arrested and taken into custody. He was questioned by police and signed a written statement.
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September 25, 2024
Appeal court decision compares ‘believe’ and ‘suspect’
If seeing is believing, is seeing also suspecting? The answer to that question was at the heart of a recent case in the Ontario Superior Court, R. v. Jones, 2024 ONSC 4486. Although the distinction between the words “believe” and “suspect” may seem trivial, it was the basis for the Crown’s winning an appeal and having a new trial ordered.