Matthews v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General) et al., 2013 SKQB 302

JudgeDawson, J.
CourtCourt of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
Case DateAugust 22, 2013
JurisdictionSaskatchewan
Citations2013 SKQB 302;(2013), 428 Sask.R. 155 (QB)

Matthews v. Sask. (A.G.) (2013), 428 Sask.R. 155 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2013] Sask.R. TBEd. SE.023

Corey Matthews (applicant) v. Her Majesty the Queen, as Represented by the Attorney General of Saskatchewan and Troy Hagen, Chief of Police of the Regina Police Service and J.M. (respondents)

(2013 QBCNJ No. 27; 2013 SKQB 302)

Indexed As: Matthews v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General) et al.

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Regina

Dawson, J.

August 22, 2013.

Summary:

The accused was charged with sexual assault and touching a person under age 18 for a sexual purpose. The alleged offences took place between 2005 and 2008. In 2013, the complainant was charged with criminal negligence causing death, impaired driving causing death, theft of a motor vehicle and breach of probation. The accused applied for disclosure of records in the possession of the Regina Police Service respecting the complainant's 2013 charges.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the application.

Editor's Note: Certain names in the following case have been initialized or the case otherwise edited to prevent the disclosure of identities where required by law, publication ban, Maritime Law Book's editorial policy or otherwise.

Criminal Law - Topic 129

General principles - Rights of accused - Right to discovery or production (disclosure) - Matthews was a teacher - He was charged with sexually assaulting and touching for a sexual purpose a student (JM) between 2005 and 2008 - JM had a criminal record dating back to 2008 - In a 2013 incident, JM was charged with criminal negligence causing death, impaired driving causing death, theft of a motor vehicle and breach of probation - Matthews applied for disclosure of records in the possession of the Regina Police Service respecting the 2013 incident - He argued that JM's criminal record raised issues about JM's credibility and character as it included offences relating to acts of dishonesty and disrespect for the administration of justice - Where JM's credibility would be a major issue at trial, information about the 2013 incident would be useful to Matthews' defence - Matthews further argued that trial fairness required that he have the same information that the Crown had respecting JM - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the application - Matthews failed to provide an evidentiary basis for the application - Matthews could not simply invoke credibility at large, but had to provide some basis to show that there was likely to be information in the records that would relate to JM's credibility on a particular material issue at trial - Demonstration that the information was relevant had to be based on evidence, not on speculative assertions or stereotypical reasoning.

Criminal Law - Topic 4505

Procedure - Trial - Special duties of Crown - Duty to disclose evidence prior to trial - [See Criminal Law - Topic 129 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5371

Evidence and witnesses - Documents and reports - Documents in possession of Crown - [See Criminal Law - Topic 129 ].

Police - Topic 2212

Duties - General duties - Disclosure of information - [See Criminal Law - Topic 129 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. O'Connor (H.P.), [1995] 4 S.C.R. 411; [1996] 2 W.W.R. 153; 191 N.R. 1; 68 B.C.A.C. 1; 112 W.A.C. 1, refd to. [para. 6].

R. v. Pidskalny (W.P.) (2012), 385 Sask.R. 276; 536 W.A.C. 276; 2012 SKCA 28, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Stinchcombe, [1991] 3 S.C.R. 326; [1992] 1 W.W.R. 97; 130 N.R. 277; 120 A.R. 161; 8 W.A.C. 161, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. McNeil (L.), [2009] 1 S.C.R. 66; 383 N.R. 1; 246 O.A.C. 154; 2009 SCC 3, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. Boyne (B.) (2012), 405 Sask.R. 163; 563 W.A.C. 163; 2012 SKCA 124, refd to. [para. 33].

Counsel:

Barry Nychuk, for the applicant;

Connie Hottinger, for the Crown;

Neil Robertson, Q.C., for Troy Hagen, Chief of Police of the Regina Police Service;

J.M., appearing on his own behalf.

This application was heard before Dawson, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Regina, who delivered the following judgment on August 22, 2013.

To continue reading

Request your trial
3 practice notes
  • Digest: R v Pinacie-Littlechief, 2017 SKQB 392
    • Canada
    • Saskatchewan Law Society Case Digests
    • 22 Diciembre 2017
    ...342 OAC 284, 128 OR (3d) 161, 332 CCC (3d) 466, 25 CR (7th) 243, 87 MVR (6th) 5 R v Koyczan, 2017 YKTC 30, 140 WCB (2d) 235 R v Matthews, 2013 SKQB 302, 428 Sask R 155 R v McNeil, 2009 SCC 3, [2009] 1 SCR 66, 301 DLR (4th) 1 R v M.D., 2015 CarswellOnt 3312, 341 CRR (2d) 1 R v Mudriievskyi, ......
  • R. v. Worden (S.), (2014) 452 Sask.R. 1 (PC)
    • Canada
    • Saskatchewan Provincial Court of Saskatchewan (Canada)
    • 14 Agosto 2014
    ...R. v. Hudye (F.R.) (2013), 425 Sask.R. 302; 2013 SKPC 122, not folld. [para. 61]. Matthews v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General) et al. (2013), 428 Sask.R. 155; 2013 SKQB 302, refd to. [para. R. v. Morris, [1983] 2 S.C.R. 190; 48 N.R. 341, refd to. [para. 80]. R. v. Seaboyer and Gayme, [1991] ......
  • R. v. PINACIE-LITTLECHIEF, 2017 SKQB 392
    • Canada
    • Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
    • 22 Diciembre 2017
    ...and subject to the O’Connor regime, for instance R v E.W., 2016 SKQB 132; R v Cyr, 2013 SKQB 87, 461 Sask R 1 [Cyr]; and R v Matthews, 2013 SKQB 302, 428 Sask R 155 [Matthews]. In Cyr and Matthews, disclosure requests were, in fact, dismissed. Some cases, such as R v Koyczan, 2017 YKTC 30 h......
2 cases
  • R. v. Worden (S.), (2014) 452 Sask.R. 1 (PC)
    • Canada
    • Saskatchewan Provincial Court of Saskatchewan (Canada)
    • 14 Agosto 2014
    ...R. v. Hudye (F.R.) (2013), 425 Sask.R. 302; 2013 SKPC 122, not folld. [para. 61]. Matthews v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General) et al. (2013), 428 Sask.R. 155; 2013 SKQB 302, refd to. [para. R. v. Morris, [1983] 2 S.C.R. 190; 48 N.R. 341, refd to. [para. 80]. R. v. Seaboyer and Gayme, [1991] ......
  • R. v. PINACIE-LITTLECHIEF, 2017 SKQB 392
    • Canada
    • Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
    • 22 Diciembre 2017
    ...and subject to the O’Connor regime, for instance R v E.W., 2016 SKQB 132; R v Cyr, 2013 SKQB 87, 461 Sask R 1 [Cyr]; and R v Matthews, 2013 SKQB 302, 428 Sask R 155 [Matthews]. In Cyr and Matthews, disclosure requests were, in fact, dismissed. Some cases, such as R v Koyczan, 2017 YKTC 30 h......
1 books & journal articles
  • Digest: R v Pinacie-Littlechief, 2017 SKQB 392
    • Canada
    • Saskatchewan Law Society Case Digests
    • 22 Diciembre 2017
    ...342 OAC 284, 128 OR (3d) 161, 332 CCC (3d) 466, 25 CR (7th) 243, 87 MVR (6th) 5 R v Koyczan, 2017 YKTC 30, 140 WCB (2d) 235 R v Matthews, 2013 SKQB 302, 428 Sask R 155 R v McNeil, 2009 SCC 3, [2009] 1 SCR 66, 301 DLR (4th) 1 R v M.D., 2015 CarswellOnt 3312, 341 CRR (2d) 1 R v Mudriievskyi, ......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT