R. v. Murphy (A.A.), 2015 YKCA 10

• Judge: Bennett, Garson and Stromberg-Stein, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Yukon Territory)
• Case Date: April 02, 2015
• Jurisdiction: Yukon
• Citations: 2015 YKCA 10;(2015), 372 B.C.A.C. 88 (YukCA)

R. v. Murphy (A.A.) (2015), 372 B.C.A.C. 88 (YukCA);

    640 W.A.C. 88

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] B.C.A.C. TBEd. MY.017

Regina (appellant) v. Alicia Ann Murphy (respondent)

(14-YU749; 2015 YKCA 10)

Indexed As: R. v. Murphy (A.A.)

Yukon Court of Appeal

Bennett, Garson and Stromberg-Stein, JJ.A.

May 6, 2015.

Summary:

The accused was charged with second degree murder. The trial judge entered a stay of proceedings of the murder charge, conditionally, until the Crown paid for a specific lawyer, Ms. Cunningham, to represent the accused. The Crown appealed.

The Yukon Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The trial judge found that the accused reasonably refused to accept a lawyer whom she understandably did not trust. Yukon Legal Services Society (YLSS) stated in their letter that if the accused decided not to accept their offer, she was "free to hire [her] counsel privately". In other words, the accused's options were to accept counsel whom she understandably did not trust, or to receive no assistance from legal aid. The court held that it did not need to decide the issue of the right to state-funded counsel of choice, as the trial judge concluded that in this context, YLSS's decision was a de facto denial of legal aid. The judge concluded that given the de facto denial, the accused had satisfied all of the criteria necessary for a Rowbotham order. There was a body of evidence on which he could make this finding. Thus, it was not necessary to address the request for a Fisher order.

Civil Rights - Topic 4620.6

Right to counsel - General - Right to counsel of choice - See paragraphs 1 to 26.

Civil Rights - Topic 4633

Right to counsel - Appointment of counsel by the court or the state - Where party impecunious - See paragraphs 1 to 27.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Murphy (A.A.), [2014] Yukon Cases Uned. 62; 2014 YKSC 62, refd to. [para. 15].

R. v. Crichton (C.E.) (2015), 370 B.C.A.C. 83; 635 W.A.C. 83; 2015 BCCA 138, refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. McCallen (J.B.) (1999), 116 O.A.C. 308; 43 O.R.(3d) 56 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. Speid (1983), 3 D.L.R.(4th) 246 (Ont. C.A.), refd to. [para. 18].

R. v. Peterman (B.) (2004), 186 O.A.C. 83; 70 O.R.(3d) 481 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. Bruha, 2002 NWTSC 58, refd to. [para. 22].

Counsel:

P. LaPrairie, for the appellant;

P. Campbell and M. Dineen, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard at Vancouver, B.C., on April 2, 2015, by Bennett, Garson and Stromberg-Stein, JJ.A., of the Yukon Court of Appeal. Bennett, J.A., delivered the following decision for the court on May 6, 2015.