R. v. Bernier, 2003 BCCA 134

• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Judge: Southin, Prowse, Newbury, Levine and Hollinrake, JJ.A.
• Neutral Citation: 2003 BCCA 134
• Citation: 2003 BCCA 134,(2003), 179 B.C.A.C. 218 (CA),177 CCC (3d) 137,179 BCAC 218,[2003] BCJ No 466 (QL),(2003), 179 BCAC 218 (CA),[2003] B.C.J. No 466 (QL),179 B.C.A.C. 218
• Date: 10 January 2003

R. v. Bernier (D.C.) (2003), 179 B.C.A.C. 218 (CA);

    295 W.A.C. 218

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2003] B.C.A.C. TBEd. MR.033

Regina (respondent) v. David Clayton Bernier (appellant)

(V03412; 2003 BCCA 134)

Indexed As: R. v. Bernier (D.C.)

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Southin, Prowse, Newbury, Levine and Hollinrake, JJ.A.

March 5, 2003.

Summary:

The accused was charged with use of a firearm while committing a robbery, assault with a weapon, break, enter and theft and possession of stolen property.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at 5 B.C.T.C. 170, found the accused guilty on all counts. Although the circumstantial evidence was insufficient to prove that the accused was one of the principal offenders, the evidence of the accused's aiding in the commission of the offence clearly made him a party under s. 21 of the Criminal Code.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at 5 B.C.T.C. 251, subsequently sentenced the accused to a total of 14 years' imprisonment. The court stated that the present standard range of 4-9 years for home invasion style robberies was no longer sufficient to deter this prevalent type of offence. The accused appealed from the convictions on the two offences involving weapons.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal, in a decision reported in 152 B.C.A.C. 300; 250 W.A.C. 300, allowed the appeal and substituted convic­tions for robbery and assault. The accused appealed the sentences.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal, in the following decision, allowed the appeal in part.

Criminal Law - Topic 5801

Sentencing - General - Uniformity - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5806.1 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5806.1

Sentencing - General - Sentence parity - General - The British Columbia Court of Appeal discussed the concept of a "range" of sentences for similar offenders and similar offences - See paragraphs 40 to 42, 66 to 75, 96, 105 to 106.

Criminal Law - Topic 5836

Sentencing - Considerations - Deterrence - Prevalence of similar crime - The Brit­ish Columbia Court of Appeal, per South­in, J.A. (Hollinrake, J.A., concurring), stated that the sentence for a serious crime was not to be determined by whether the crime was frequent or infrequent - See paragraph 46.

Criminal Law - Topic 5839

Sentencing - Considerations - Parole and parole legislation - The British Columbia Court of Appeal held that it was wrong for a sentencing judge to take into account that the accused may "qualify for early release on parole" - See paragraphs 44 to 45, 85 to 86.

Criminal Law - Topic 5846.5

Sentencing - Considerations - Sentence precedents (incl. starting point principle) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5806.1 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5851

Sentence - Break and enter - An aborig­inal accused, age 21 at sentencing, master­­minded a "home invasion" to steal mari­juana - No drugs found but money taken - Vic­tim hit but suffered no permanent injury - Convicted, as a party, of robbery, assault, break, enter and theft and pos­session of stolen goods under $5,000 - Admitted drug habit - Prior similar con­victions - Neglected and abused childhood - Com­mitted another break and enter while on bail - Amenable to seeking help - The British Columbia Court of Appeal reduced the sentence for break and enter from 14 years to six years - The court affirmed one year consecutive for the possession charge, and reduced the sen­tences for robbery and assault (six and four years, consecutive), to time served - See paragraphs 1 to 3, 13 to 18, 48 to 59, 89 to 93, 98 to 108.

Criminal Law - Topic 5855

Sentence - Robbery - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5851 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5861

Sentence - Assault (incl. common assault) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5851 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5862

Sentence - Possession of stolen goods - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5851 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 6201

Sentencing - Appeals - Variation of sentence­ - Powers of appeal court - The Brit­ish Columbia Court of Appeal, per South­in, J.A. (Hollinrake, J.A., concurring) stated that "no division of this court has the power to bind other divisions on future sentence appeals" - See paragraph 40.

Criminal Law - Topic 6222

Sentencing - Appeals - Variation of sen­tence - Jurisdiction - [See Criminal Law -Topic 6201 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Whicher (D.A.) (2002), 169 B.C.A.C. 275; 276 W.A.C. 275; 165 C.C.C.(3d) 535 (C.A.), consd. [para. 21].

R. v. D.A.W. - see R. v. Whicher (D.A.).

R. v. Dang (N.P.) (2002), 172 B.C.A.C. 1; 282 W.A.C. 1 (C.A.), consd. [para. 21].

R. v. N.P.D. - see R. v. Dang (N.P.).

R. v. C.A.M., [1996] 1 S.C.R. 500; 194 N.R. 321; 73 B.C.A.C. 81; 120 W.A.C. 81, refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Parinas (E.) (1993), 37 B.C.A.C. 41; 60 W.A.C. 41 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Robert (K.) (1996), 77 B.C.A.C. 65; 126 W.A.C. 65; 108 C.C.C.(3d) 83 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Collicott (C.A.) (1998), 108 B.C.A.C. 19; 176 W.A.C. 19 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Jones (K.J.) (2000), 140 B.C.A.C. 30; 229 W.A.C. 30 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Kutschera (J.P.) (1999), 131 B.C.A.C. 120; 214 W.A.C. 120; 141 C.C.C.(3d) 254 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

R. v. Shropshire (M.T.), [1995] 4 S.C.R. 227; 188 N.R. 284; 65 B.C.A.C. 37; 106 W.A.C. 37, refd to. [para. 63].

R. v. McDonnell (T.E.), [1997] 1 S.C.R. 948; 210 N.R. 241; 196 A.R. 321; 141 W.A.C. 321, refd to. [para. 63].

R. v. Stone (B.T.), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 290; 239 N.R. 201; 123 B.C.A.C. 1; 201 W.A.C. 1, refd to. [para. 63].

R. v. G.W., [1999] 3 S.C.R. 597; 247 N.R. 135; 181 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 139; 550 A.P.R. 139; 178 D.L.R.(4th) 76, refd to. [para. 63].

R. v. Muise (D.R.) (1994), 135 N.S.R.(2d) 81; 386 A.P.R. 81; 94 C.C.C.(3d) 119 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 64].

R. v. Wilmott, [1967] 1 C.C.C. 171 (Ont. C.A.), refd to. [para. 85].

R. v. Holden, [1963] 2 C.C.C. 394 (B.C.C.A.), refd to. [para. 86].

R. v. Proulx (J.K.D.), [2000] 1 S.C.R. 61; 249 N.R. 201; 142 Man.R.(2d) 161; 212 W.A.C. 161, refd to. [para. 105].

Authors and Works Noticed:

United Kingdom (Practice Directive) (March 2, 1998), generally [para. 71].

Counsel:

P. Benning and R.P. Thirkell, for the appellant;

J.M. Gordon, for the respondent, Crown.

This appeal was heard in Vancouver, British Columbia, on January 10, 2003, before Southin, Prowse, Newbury, Levine and Hollinrake, JJ.A., of the British Colum­bia Court of Appeal. The decision of the court was delivered on March 5, 2003, when the following opinions were filed:

Southin, J.A. (Hollinrake, J.A., concur­ring) - see paragraphs 1 to 62;

Prowse, J.A. (Levine, J.A., concurring) - see paragraphs 63 to 93;

Newbury, J.A. - see paragraphs 94 to 108.