R. v. Laboucan (A.F.), 2002 BCCA 376

• Judge: Esson, Southin and Huddart, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: March 27, 2002
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: 2002 BCCA 376;(2002), 170 B.C.A.C. 118 (CA)

R. v. Laboucan (A.F.) (2002), 170 B.C.A.C. 118 (CA);

    279 W.A.C. 118

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2002] B.C.A.C. TBEd. JN.040

Regina (respondent) v. Adam Frank Laboucan (appellant)

(CA026024; 2002 BCCA 376)

Indexed As: R. v. Laboucan (A.F.)

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Esson, Southin and Huddart, JJ.A.

June 13, 2002.

Summary:

The 15.5 year old accused, his case having been transferred from Youth Court, pleaded guilty to sexual assault causing bodily harm. The accused admitted to putting his penis in an infant's rectum. The accused was babysitting the 3.5 month old victim at the time of the offence. The Crown sought to have the accused declared a dangerous offender.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at 23 B.C.T.C. 41, declared the accused a dangerous offender. The court imposed an indeterminate sen­tence. The accused appealed the determina­tion and sentence.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Criminal Law - Topic 6502

Dangerous or long-term offenders - De­tention - General - Considerations and conditions precedent - A teenaged boy was declared a danger­ous offender and given an indeterminate sen­tence - The British Columbia Court of Appeal held that the sentencing judge erred in analyzing the treatability of the accused at the designa­tion stage, when the probabil­ity of a cure was not relevant to the ques­tion of whether the accused was a danger­ous offender - Treatability was relevant in deciding whether a sentence of indetermi­nate deten­tion was required - See para­graphs 6, 17 to 37.

Criminal Law - Topic 6503

Dangerous or long-term offenders - De­tention - General - Dangerous offender - Defined - A 15.5 year old boy pleaded guilty to sexual assault causing bodily harm to the 3.5 month old infant he was babysitting - Four years earlier, a three year old child in his care drowned - Psy­chiatric evidence lead to a finding that the accused's condition was intractable - The sentencing judge declared the accused to be a dangerous offender and imposed an indeterminate sentence - The British Columbia­ Court of Appeal refused to set aside the designation, despite error by the judge, because there was presently no foreseeable possibility of control of the risk of re-offending - The experts' opin­ions were based on admissible evidence - See para­graphs 17 to 37.

Criminal Law - Topic 6513

Dangerous or long-term offenders - De­tention - General - Psychiatric evidence (incl. costs of) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 6503 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 6574

Dangerous or long-term offenders - De­tention - Sentencing - Considerations - [See Criminal Law - Topic 6502 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Johnson (J.J.) (2001), 159 B.C.A.C. 255; 259 W.A.C. 255; 158 C.C.C.(3d) 155 (C.A.), leave to appeal granted (2002), 289 N.R. 218 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 2].

R. v. Mitchell (S.K.) (2002), 162 B.C.A.C. 247; 264 W.A.C. 247 (C.A.), leave to appeal granted [2002] S.C.C.A. No. 92, refd to. [para. 2].

R. v. Carleton, [1983] 2 S.C.R. 58; 52 N.R. 293; 47 A.R. 160, refd to. [para. 6].

R. v. Turley (R.J.) (1999), 122 B.C.A.C. 133; 200 W.A.C. 133; 136 C.C.C.(3d) 426 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 13].

Wilband v. R., [1967] S.C.R. 14, refd to. [para. 24].

R. v. Lyons, [1987] 2 S.C.R. 309; 80 N.R. 161; 82 N.S.R.(2d) 271; 207 A.P.R. 271, refd to. [para. 32].

Statutes Noticed:

Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, sect. 723(5) [para. 32].

Counsel:

R.C. Gibbs, Q.C., and B.L. Josephy, for the appellant;

J. Duncan, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard before Esson, Southin and Huddart, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, at Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 27, 2002. The decision of the court was delivered on June 13, 2002, by Huddart, J.A.