R. v. Alcorn (S.E.), 2015 ABCA 182

• Judge: Watson, Rowbotham and Brown, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Alberta)
• Case Date: May 04, 2015
• Citations: 2015 ABCA 182;(2015), 600 A.R. 325

R. v. Alcorn (S.E.) (2015), 600 A.R. 325; 645 W.A.C. 325 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] A.R. TBEd. JN.003

Her Majesty the Queen (respondent) v. Steven Edward Alcorn (appellant)

(1401-0319-A; 2015 ABCA 182)

Indexed As: R. v. Alcorn (S.E.)

Alberta Court of Appeal

Watson, Rowbotham and Brown, JJ.A.

June 1, 2015.

Summary:

The accused pleaded guilty to three counts (indictable offences) and was sentenced as follows: (1) cruelty to an animal under s 445.1(1)(a) of the Criminal Code (20 months imprisonment followed by 3 years' probation); (2) assault of ND under s. 266 of the Criminal Code (3 months consecutive); and (3) breach of recognizance under s. 145(3) of the Criminal Code (1 month consecutive). The accused had spent 67 days in pre-sentence custody for which the sentencing judge gave him credit at the rate of 1.5 to 1. The accused applied for leave to appeal, challenging his total sentence of imprisonment of 24 months together with 3 years of probation.

The Alberta Court of Appeal granted leave. The court noted that because of an error by the sentencing judge in relying on the report of a particular psychiatrist, it would consider the sentencing matter afresh. In the result, however, the court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the sentence.

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. In this case an identification ban was imposed by the court under s. 632(6) of the Criminal Code respecting information that might identify the complainant; however the judgment as released by the court was "intended to comply with that restriction so that it may be published".

Animals - Topic 3004

Cruelty to animals - General - Causing pain, suffering or injury to an animal - [See Criminal Law - Topic 2361 ].

Animals - Topic 7249

Offences - Penalties - Causing pain, suffering or injury to an animal (incl. during transportation) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5937 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 2341

Wilful acts respecting property - Cruelty to animals - General - [See Criminal Law - Topic 2361 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 2361

Wilful acts respecting property - Killing or injuring animals - General - Section 445.1 of the Criminal Code made it an offence to cause unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to animals - The Alberta Court of Appeal stated that "By enacting s. 445.1 of the Criminal Code, which allows the Crown to proceed by indictment and imposes a maximum sentence of 5 years' imprisonment, Parliament recognized, and intended that courts also recognize, that cruelty to animals is incompatible with civilized society ..." - See paragraph 42.

Criminal Law - Topic 5937

Sentence - Killing or injuring animals - The accused strung up a cat, cut the cat's throat and allowed it to bleed to death while the accused and his female partner (ND) had sexual intercourse underneath as part of a sexual ritual - The cat died - The accused pleaded guilty to animal cruelty (20 months' imprisonment plus three years' probation) - Regarding a separate incident, he was convicted of assault of ND (three months consecutive to the animal cruelty sentence) and breach of a recognizance (one month consecutive) - He appealed his 24 month total sentence - The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal - As to the animal cruelty charge, the court stated that the accused's motive of self-gratification, the sadism inherent in his methodology and the degree of pre-meditation and planning involved called for a denunciatory and deterrent sentence - The 20 month sentence for animal cruelty was not unfit - The total sentence met the requirement of the totality principle - See paragraphs 1 to 47.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Sekhon (A.S.), [2014] 1 S.C.R. 272; 454 N.R. 41; 351 B.C.A.C. 1; 599 W.A.C. 1; 2014 SCC 15, refd to. [para. 27].

R. v. Jacobs (P.G.) (2014), 577 A.R. 3; 613 W.A.C. 3; 2014 ABCA 172, refd to. [para. 27].

Blake v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. (2015), 331 O.A.C. 48; 2015 ONCA 165, refd to. [para. 27].

Mouvement laïque québécois et al. v. Saguenay (City) (2015), 470 N.R. 1; 2015 SCC 16, refd to. [para. 27].

R. v. Kristensen (J.C.) (2010), 474 A.R. 240; 479 W.A.C. 240; 251 C.C.C.(3d) 372; 2010 ABCA 37, refd to. [para. 28].

R. v. McDonald (S.E.) (2015), 599 A.R. 300; 643 W.A.C. 300; 2015 ABCA 108, refd to. [para. 28].

R. v. Lemonnier, 2014 QCCA 1492, refd to. [para. 29].

R. v. Virani (A.) (2012), 524 A.R. 328; 545 W.A.C. 328; 2012 ABCA 155, refd to. [para. 29].

R. v. Gnam (L.L.) (2013), 556 A.R. 12; 584 W.A.C. 12; 2013 ABCA 254, refd to. [para. 29].

R. v. Johnson (J.R.) (2010), 493 A.R. 74; 502 W.A.C. 74; 265 C.C.C.(3d) 443; 2010 ABCA 392, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. Gibson (R.J.) (2015), 593 A.R. 380; 637 W.A.C. 380; 319 C.C.C.(3d) 115; 2015 ABCA 41, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. Cowan (R.W.) (2012), 533 A.R. 157; 557 W.A.C. 157; 288 C.C.C.(3d) 367; 2012 ABCA 199, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. Moller (M.H.) (2012), 539 A.R. 300; 561 W.A.C. 300; 2012 ABCA 381, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. Asp (J.K.) (2011), 312 B.C.A.C. 170; 531 W.A.C. 170; 278 C.C.C.(3d) 391; 2011 BCCA 433, refd to. [para. 31].

R. v. Bell (T.D.) (2013), 344 B.C.A.C. 237; 587 W.A.C. 237; 2013 BCCA 463, refd to. [para. 32].

R. v. H.S. (2014), 318 O.A.C. 299; 308 C.C.C.(3d) 27; 2014 ONCA 323, refd to. [para. 32].

R. v. J.L.M.A. (2010), 499 A.R. 1; 514 W.A.C. 1; 264 C.C.C.(3d) 134; 2010 ABCA 363, refd to. [para. 32].

R. v. Arcand - see R. v. J.L.M.A.

R. v. Angelillo (G.), [2006] 2 S.C.R. 728; 355 N.R. 226; 2006 SCC 55, refd to. [para. 32].

R. v. Ramsay (D.L.) (2012), 536 A.R. 174; 559 W.A.C. 174; 2012 ABCA 257, refd to. [para. 33].

Croatia (Republic) v. Snedden, [2010] HCA 14, refd to. [para. 36].

R. v. Zentner (R.) (2012), 539 A.R. 1; 561 W.A.C. 1; 2012 ABCA 332, refd to. [para. 36].

R. v. St-Cloud (J.) (2015), 471 N.R. 256; 2015 SCC 27, refd to. [para. 37].

R. v. Maier (A.S.) (2015), 599 A.R. 64; 643 W.A.C. 64; 2015 ABCA 59, refd to. [para. 39].

R. v. Mathieu (P.), [2008] 1 S.C.R. 723; 373 N.R. 370; 2008 SCC 21, refd to. [para. 39].

R. v. Knott (D.W.), [2012] 2 S.C.R. 470; 433 N.R. 38; 324 B.C.A.C. 1; 551 W.A.C. 1; 2012 SCC 42, refd to. [para. 39].

Reece et al. v. Edmonton (City) et al. (2011), 513 A.R. 199; 530 W.A.C. 199; 335 D.L.R.(4th) 600; 2011 ABCA 238, leave to appeal denied (2012), 435 N.R. 389; 536 A.R. 404; 559 W.A.C. 404 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 41].

R. v. Lemmon (J.D.) (2012), 524 A.R. 164; 545 W.A.C. 164; 2012 ABCA 103, refd to. [para. 45].

R. v. Ranger (R.S.) (2014), 569 A.R. 39; 606 W.A.C. 39; 2014 ABCA 50, refd to. [para. 46].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Sankoff, Peter, Black, Vaughan, and Sykes, Katie, Canadian Perspectives on Animals and the Animals and the Law (2015), generally [para. 42].

Counsel:

M. Dalidowicz, for the respondent;

L.S. Faught, for the appellant.

This appeal was heard in Calgary, Alberta, on May 4, 2015, before Watson, Rowbotham and Brown, JJ.A, of the Alberta Court of Appeal. The following memorandum of judgment was delivered by the court on June 1, 2015.