R. v. Laventure (C.), 2014 SKQB 262

• Judge: Konkin, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: August 20, 2014
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2014 SKQB 262;(2014), 453 Sask.R. 151 (QB)

R. v. Laventure (C.) (2014), 453 Sask.R. 151 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2014] Sask.R. TBEd. SE.029

Her Majesty the Queen (appellant) v. Curtis Laventure (respondent)

(2013 Q.B.A. No. 4; 2014 SKQB 262)

Indexed As: R. v. Laventure (C.)

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Battleford

Konkin, J.

August 20, 2014.

Summary:

The accused was charged with impaired driving offences. On January 30, 2013, a Provincial Court judge granted a judicial stay of proceedings pursuant to s. 24(1) of the Charter on the grounds that there had been a breach of the accused's s. 11(b) right to be tried within a reasonable time. The Crown appealed, but its notice of appeal was not received by the registry office until March 5, 2013, which was four days later than the prescribed time period for summary conviction appeals. The Crown applied to extend the time for filing the notice of appeal.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, in a decision reported at (2013), 419 Sask.R. 173, allowed the application.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the appeal and referred the matter back to the Provincial Court to be heard.

Civil Rights - Topic 3262

Trials - Due process, fundamental justice and fair hearings - Speedy trial - Accused's right to - Waiver of right - [See Civil Rights - Topic 3270 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 3265

Trials - Due process, fundamental justice and fair hearings - Speedy trial - Accused's right to - What constitutes "within a reasonable time" - [See Civil Rights - Topic 3270 ].

Civil Rights - Topic 3270

Trials - Due process, fundamental justice and fair hearings - Speedy trial - Accused's right to - Evidence of prejudice and causes of delay - Laventure was charged with impaired driving offences in September 2011 - In October and November 2011, the matter was adjourned twice at the request of Laventure or his counsel - Laventure pled not guilty in December 2011 - A trial date in March 2012 was offered, but defence counsel was unavailable until August 2012, so the trial was set for September 2012 - The trial did not proceed in September 2012 because another trial set for the same day took the whole day - A new trial date was set for January 2013 - Laventure applied for a stay of proceedings on the grounds that his s. 11(b) Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time was breached - The trial judge granted the stay - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the Crown's appeal - From the total 16.5 month delay, the four months that defence counsel was unavailable had to be deducted, as this period was waived by Laventure - The three month period from September to December 2012 was an inherent delay that also had to be deducted - The remaining nine months that could be attributable to institutional delay fell squarely within the acceptable limits - Further, the prejudice suffered by Laventure was insignificant at best - The stress and embarrassment that he felt could be attributed to being charged rather than the minimal delay.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Wetzel (D.B.), [2014] 2 W.W.R. 559; 427 Sask.R. 261; 591 W.A.C. 261; 2013 SKCA 143, refd to. [para. 3].

R. v. Morin, [1992] 1 S.C.R. 771; 134 N.R. 321; 53 O.A.C. 241; 71 C.C.C.(3d) 1, refd to. [para. 4].

R. v. Wilson (S.R.G.), [2014] 2 W.W.R. 26; 427 Sask.R. 63; 591 W.A.C. 63; 2013 SKCA 128, refd to. [para. 5].

R. v. Godin (M.), [2009] 2 S.C.R. 3; 389 N.R. 1; 252 O.A.C. 377; 2009 SCC 26, refd to. [para. 6].

R. v. Richards (E.), [2013] 2 W.W.R. 637; 405 Sask.R. 127; 563 W.A.C. 127; 2012 SKCA 120, refd to. [para. 15].

R. v. Pidskalny (W.P.) (2013), 417 Sask.R. 124; 580 W.A.C. 124; 299 C.C.C.(3d) 396; 2013 SKCA 74, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Shepherd (S.J.) (2014), 440 Sask.R. 240; 2014 SKQB 83, refd to. [para. 19].

Counsel:

Scott A.H. Whitelaw, for the appellant, Crown;

Michael W. Owens, for the respondent, accused.

This appeal was heard before Konkin, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Battleford, who delivered the following judgment on August 20, 2014.