R. v. Doyle (W.H.), (2016) 376 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 103 (PEICA)

• Judge: Murphy, J.A.
• Case Date: April 15, 2016
• Jurisdiction: Prince Edward Island
• Citations: (2016), 376 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 103 (PEICA)

R. v. Doyle (W.H.) (2016), 376 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 103 (PEICA);

    1170 A.P.R. 103

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2016] Nfld. & P.E.I.R. TBEd. AP.024

Wilfred Harold Doyle (appellant) v. Her Majesty the Queen (respondent)

(S1-CA-1329; 2016 PECA 9)

Indexed As: R. v. Doyle (W.H.)

Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal

Murphy, J.A.

April 15, 2016.

Summary:

The accused was charged with uttering threats, criminal harassment, and a number of breach of recognizance offences. He moved for the recusal of all judges of the Prince Edward Island Supreme Court. Key, J., denied the motion. The accused appealed and moved for a stay of proceedings pending the appeal.

The Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal, per Murphy, J.A., denied the motion for a stay.

Courts - Topic 679

Judges - Disqualification - Recusal motion - Procedure - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4825 ].

Courts - Topic 2106

Jurisdiction - Appellate jurisdiction - Court of Appeal - Criminal appeals - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4825 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 2966

Jurisdiction - Appeals - Interlocutory orders - Bars - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4825 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 4825

Appeals - Indictable offences - Right of appeal - From an interlocutory decision - Doyle was charged with several Criminal Code offences - He moved for the recusal of all judges of the Prince Edward Island Supreme Court - Key, J., denied the motion - Doyle appealed and moved for a stay of proceedings pending the appeal - The Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal, per Murphy, J.A., denied the motion for a stay - The only matter that could be heard on appeal regarding a trial in a superior court was the conviction itself - Bias could be cited as a ground of appeal - Therefore, the remedy available to Doyle was that upon receiving a verdict of conviction, he could appeal that conviction to the Court of Appeal and cite as one of his grounds that the trial judge was biased - This route of appeal was based on fundamental jurisdiction principles of the court system.

Counsel:

Wilfred Harold Doyle, on his own behalf;

Jeffrey S. MacDonald, for the respondent.

This motion was heard at Charlottetown, P.E.I., on April 15, 2016, before Murphy, J.A., of the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal, who delivered an oral judgment on the same date, and the following written reasons on April 22, 2016.