R. v. D.J.S.,

• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Judge: Newbury,Saunders,Willcock
• Neutral Citation: 2015 BCCA 111
• Citation: 2015 BCCA 111,(2015), 370 B.C.A.C. 57 (CA),370 BCAC 57,(2015), 370 BCAC 57 (CA),370 B.C.A.C. 57
• Date: 20 February 2015
• Subject Matter: CRIMINAL LAW

R. v. D.J.S. (2015), 370 B.C.A.C. 57 (CA);

    635 W.A.C. 57

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] B.C.A.C. TBEd. MR.042

Regina (appellant) v. D.J.S. (respondent)

(CA041809; 2015 BCCA 111)

Indexed As: R. v. D.J.S.

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Newbury, Saunders and Willcock, JJ.A

March 17, 2015.

Summary:

The accused was convicted of two charges of sexual assault. The Crown pursued a dangerous offender application.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision with neutral citation 2014 BCSC 819, found the accused to be a dangerous offender and imposed a determinate sentence of 48 months for one of the offences and a consecutive sentence of 36 months for the second offence. He also received credit for time served. The Crown appealed the imposition of a determinate, as opposed to indeterminate, sentence.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the determinate sentences, and imposed a sentence of detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period.

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, the ban was imposed under s. 486.4 of the Criminal Code restricting publication or identifying information relating to a complainant or witness and applies indefinitely unless otherwise ordered by the court.

Criminal Law - Topic 5659

Punishments (sentence) - Imprisonment and parole - Term of imprisonment - Indeterminate - See paragraphs 32 to 38.

Criminal Law - Topic 6516

Dangerous or long-offenders - Detention (incl. common law preventive detention) - General - Appeals - Scope of - See paragraphs 26 to 31.

Criminal Law - Topic 6576

Dangerous or long-term offenders - Detention - Sentencing - Indeterminate vs. determinate sentence - See paragraphs 32 to 38.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Walsh (R.J.), [2011] B.C.T.C. Uned. 1911; 2011 BCSC 1911, refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. Shanoss (J.N.), [2013] B.C.T.C. Uned. 2335; 2013 BCSC 2335, refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. Hartling (E.J.), [2005] O.T.C. 109 (Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. Muir (J.S.) (2003), 177 B.C.A.C. 246; 291 W.A.C. 246; 2003 BCCA 66, refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Biniaris (J.), [2000] 1 S.C.R. 381; 252 N.R. 204; 134 B.C.A.C. 161; 219 W.A.C. 161; 2000 SCC 15, refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Higginbottom (C.) (2001), 150 O.A.C. 79; 156 C.C.C.(3d) 178 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 27].

Housen v. Nikolaisen et al., [2002] 2 S.C.R. 235; 286 N.R. 1; 219 Sask.R. 1; 272 W.A.C. 1; 2002 SCC 33, refd to. [para. 28].

R. v. Dagenais (R.A.) (2003), 339 A.R. 132; 312 W.A.C. 132; 2003 ABCA 376, refd to. [para. 29].

R. v. Racher (B.A.), [2011] B.C.T.C. Uned. 1313; 2011 BCSC 1313, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. Osborne (C.G.) (2014), 306 Man.R.(2d) 276; 604 W.A.C. 276; 2014 MBCA 73, refd to. [para. 30].

R. v. J.M.H., [2011] 3 S.C.R. 197; 421 N.R. 76; 283 O.A.C. 379; 2011 SCC 45, refd to. [para. 31].

Counsel:

M.J. Brundrett, for the appellant;

L. Helps, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard in Vancouver, B.C., on February 20, 2015, before Newbury, Saunders and Willcock, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The decision of the court was delivered by Newbury, J.A., on March 17, 2015.