R. v. Parsons (G.R.), 2010 BCCA 558

• Judge: Saunders, Chiasson and D. Smith, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: September 14, 2010
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: 2010 BCCA 558;(2010), 297 B.C.A.C. 201 (CA)

R. v. Parsons (G.R.) (2010), 297 B.C.A.C. 201 (CA);

    504 W.A.C. 201

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2010] B.C.A.C. TBEd. DE.048

Regina (appellant) v. Gary Robert Parsons (respondent)

(CA036974; 2010 BCCA 558)

Indexed As: R. v. Parsons (G.R.)

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Saunders, Chiasson and D. Smith, JJ.A.

December 8, 2010.

Summary:

The accused was charged with importing cocaine into Canada, possession of cocaine and resisting a public officer (a Canada Border Services Officer) engaged in the execution of his duty by failing to remain at the scene.

The British Columbia Supreme Court found the accused not guilty on all charges. The Crown appealed, asserting the court erred in its treatment of the evidence concerning the accused's conduct in leaving the vicinity of the customs inspection area at a U.S. Canada border crossing.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Criminal Law - Topic 4358

Procedure - Charge or directions - Jury or judge alone - Directions regarding circumstantial evidence - The accused truck driver picked up a trailer in California with a truck owned by his employer - He then picked up legitimate cargo destined for Calgary at two locations - Although he was paid based on a route through Montana, he took an indirect route through the Pacific Highway border crossing - The border services officer became suspicious when the accused failed to make eye contact - The accused was directed to a warehouse where he was further questioned - He proceeded to a waiting room as the trailer was unloaded - He left the compound on foot, leaving behind his driver's license, employee identification documents and various personal papers - Sixty-one kilograms of cocaine were found in the trailer and $6,200 was found in the sleeper unit - The accused was charged with importing cocaine, possession of cocaine and resisting a public officer engaged in the execution of his duty by failing to remain at the scene - The Crown asserted that the totality of the evidence, including the accused's flight, supported an inference that the accused had knowledge of the cocaine beyond a reasonable doubt - The accused denied knowledge - He testified that he took the indirect route because he intended to quit his job and deliver the truck to his employer in Surrey, B.C. - He claimed that the $6,200 was for the purchase of a used vehicle - He testified that he panicked and left the compound, thinking that the border officials had been warned that there was something in the truck of which he had no knowledge - The trial judge found the accused not guilty on all charges - The Crown appealed, asserting that the judge erred in assessing the accused's testimony by applying the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt discretely to the question of post-offence conduct and that the piecemeal approach offended the requirement that the evidence be assessed in its totality - The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal - The judge's reasoning did take a detour when he suggested that this might be a case in which the reasonable doubt standard should be applied discretely to the evidence of post-offence conduct - That suggestion was not apt where the Crown's case did not rest substantially upon the evidence of flight, but drew together many circumstantial threads to support an inference of knowledge - However, the detour was without effect on the judge's reasoning process - The judge's task was to determine whether he was left in a reasonable doubt by the accused's evidence - He answered in the affirmative - That was not a matter with which the court could interfere.

Criminal Law - Topic 4392

Procedure - Charge or directions - Jury or judge alone - Directions re inferences of guilt (incl. consciousness of guilt) - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4358 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5313.01

Evidence and witnesses - Inferences - From consciousness of guilt - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4358 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5316.1

Evidence and witnesses - Inferences - Of guilt - From fleeing crime scene - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4358 ].

Evidence - Topic 336

Circumstantial evidence - Evidence of consciousness of guilt - [See Criminal Law - Topic 4358 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Morin (K.M.), [1992] 3 S.C.R. 286; 142 N.R. 141; 131 A.R. 81; 25 W.A.C. 81; 76 C.C.C.(3d) 193, consd. [para. 4].

R. v. White (R.G.) and Côté (Y.), [1998] 2 S.C.R. 72; 227 N.R. 326; 112 O.A.C. 1, refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Ménard (S.), [1998] 2 S.C.R. 109; 228 N.R. 100; 111 O.A.C. 1; 125 C.C.C.(3d) 416, refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Ilina (L.) (2003), 170 Man.R.(2d) 207; 285 W.A.C. 207; 172 C.C.C.(3d) 240 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Jaw (S.G.) (2009), 393 N.R. 246; 464 A.R. 149; 467 W.A.C. 149; 2009 SCC 42, refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Reddy (C.J.) (2010), 282 B.C.A.C. 51; 476 W.A.C. 51; 2010 BCCA 11, refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Trevor (L.E.) (2006), 223 B.C.A.C. 56; 369 W.A.C. 56; 2006 BCCA 91, refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Cullen, [1949] S.C.R. 658, refd to. [para. 23].

R. v. Graveline (R.), [2006] 1 S.C.R. 609; 347 N.R. 268; 2006 SCC 16, refd to. [para. 23].

Counsel:

W.P. Riley, for the appellant;

J.R. Ray, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 14, 2010, by Saunders, Chiasson and D. Smith, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Saunders, J.A., delivered the following reasons for judgment for the court on December 8, 2010.