R. v. Schultz (B.J.), (2008) 450 A.R. 37 (QB)

JudgeTopolniski, J.
CourtCourt of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
Case DateNovember 13, 2008
Citations(2008), 450 A.R. 37 (QB);2008 ABQB 679

R. v. Schultz (B.J.) (2008), 450 A.R. 37 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2008] A.R. TBEd. NO.081

Her Majesty The Queen (respondent) v. Brian Johnathan Schultz (accused/applicant)

(061379269Q1; 2008 ABQB 679)

Indexed As: R. v. Schultz (B.J.)

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Edmonton

Topolniski, J.

November 13, 2008.

Summary:

The 20 year old accused pleaded guilty to transmitting child pornography contrary to s. 163.1 of the Criminal Code. At the sentencing hearing, the accused applied for a declaration that the mandatory minimum one year sentence prescribed by s. 163.1(3)(a) was unconstitutional because it constituted cruel and unusual treatment or punishment under s. 12 of the Charter. Alternatively, the accused sought a constitutional exemption. The accused also sought to be exempted from the registration requirements of the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA).

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the mandatory minimum sentence did not violate s. 12 of the Charter. The accused was denied an exemption from registration under the SOIRA, as he failed to raise any circumstances establishing that registration would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest. The accused was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment followed by two years' probation. He was ordered to be registered under the SOIRA for 20 years.

Civil Rights - Topic 3829

Cruel and unusual treatment or punishment - What constitutes - Mandatory minimum and consecutive sentences - The 20 year old accused took consensual nude and semi-nude pictures of his 16 year old girlfriend, some of which were sexual in nature - After they broke up, an upset accused sought revenge by posting pictures on his Nexopia profile page and on a website he created a link to - The girlfriend's name and address was included, with the intention of embarrassing and humiliating her - Pictures were re-posted after complaints by the girlfriend and warnings from Nexopia and the police - The accused pleaded guilty to transmitting child pornography - At the sentencing hearing, the accused argued that the mandatory minimum one year sentence prescribed by s. 163.1(3)(a) of the Criminal Code constituted cruel and unusual treatment or punishment (Charter, s. 12), because the minimum sentence was grossly disproportionate to his moral culpability when you considered the gravity of the offence, his personal characteristics and the circumstances of the case - Alternatively, a one year sentence was grossly disproportionate in reasonable hypothetical circumstances - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that s. 163.1(3)(a) did not violate s. 12 - In the circumstances of this case, and in consideration of the hypothetical cases, a minimum one year sentence was not so excessive as to outrage the community's standard of decency - The court also stated that if the challenged section had violated s. 12, a constitutional exemption would not be available, as the appropriate remedy would be a finding that the section was of no force and effect (Charter, s. 52) - See paragraphs 15 to 132.

Criminal Law - Topic 3090.5

Special powers - Sex offender registration legislation - Registration - Exceptions or exemptions - The 20 year old accused took consensual nude and semi-nude pictures of his 16 year old girlfriend, some of which were sexual in nature - After they broke up, an upset accused sought revenge by posting pictures on his Nexopia profile page and on a website he created a link to - The girlfriend's name and address was included, with the intention of embarrassing and humiliating her - Pictures were re-posted after complaints by the girlfriend and warnings from Nexopia and the police - The accused pleaded guilty to transmitting child pornography (Criminal Code, s. 163.1) - Section 163.1 was a "designated offence" listed in s. 490.011(a) of the Criminal Code, which required registration under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA), unless the impact on the accused was grossly disproportionate to the public interest in protecting society - The accused submitted that he should be exempted from registration as he had not committed a crime "of a sexual nature" as defined under s. 3(2) of the SOIRA and the circumstances of his offence made registration grossly disproportionate - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench ordered registration under the SOIRA for 20 years - Registration did not depend upon the seriousness of the designated offence - Distribution of child pornography was a crime of a sexual nature - In any event, the SOIRA did not require the crime to be "of a sexual nature" - The court held that the accused "has not raised any circumstances which would establish that his registration would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest" - See paragraphs 133 to 160.

Criminal Law - Topic 5830.4

Sentencing - Considerations on imposing sentence - Guilty plea - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5874 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 5874

Sentence - Manufacture, distribution or possession of obscene matter (incl. child pornography) - The 20 year old accused took consensual nude and semi-nude pictures of his 16 year old girlfriend, some of which were sexual in nature - After they broke up, an upset accused sought revenge by posting pictures on his Nexopia profile page and on a website he created a link to - The girlfriend's name and address was included, with the intention of embarrassing and humiliating her - Pictures were re-posted after complaints by the girlfriend and warnings from Nexopia and the police - The accused pleaded guilty to transmitting child pornography - Pursuant to s. 163.1(3)(a) of the Criminal Code, the mandatory minimum sentence was one year's imprisonment - The accused, now 22 years of age, was unemployed and lived with his parents - He blamed his girlfriend - His remorse was limited to acknowledging that he made a mistake - The accused was also facing charges for criminally harassing and threatening another girlfriend and for breaching his bail conditions against having contact with the present girlfriend - Although the accused pleaded guilty, less weight was accorded to guilty pleas where the accused was caught red-handed and the Crown's evidence of guilt was overwhelming - The accused had no prior related record - He was immature and unmotivated to work or further educate himself - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench sentenced the accused to 12 months' imprisonment plus two years' probation - See paragraphs 15 to 132.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. L.W. (2006), 208 O.A.C. 42; 206 C.C.C.(3d) 543 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 21].

R. v. Smith (E.D.), [1987] 1 S.C.R. 1045; 75 N.R. 321, refd to. [para. 26].

R. v. Miller and Cockriell, [1977] 2 S.C.R. 680; 11 N.R. 386, refd to. [para. 26].

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. 27].

R. v. Luxton, [1990] 2 S.C.R. 711; 112 N.R. 193; 111 A.R. 161, refd to. [para. 27].

Steele v. Mountain Institution, [1990] 2 S.C.R. 1385; 121 N.R. 198, refd to. [para. 27].

R. v. Goltz, [1991] 3 S.C.R. 485; 131 N.R. 1; 5 B.C.A.C. 161; 11 W.A.C. 161, refd to. [para. 27].

R. v. Morrisey (M.L.) (No. 2), [2000] 2 S.C.R. 90; 259 N.R. 95; 187 N.S.R.(2d) 1; 585 A.P.R. 1; 2000 SCC 39, refd to. [para. 27].

R. v. Ferguson (M.E.) (2008), 371 N.R. 231; 425 A.R. 79; 418 W.A.C. 79; 2008 SCC 6, refd to. [para. 27]

R. v. Guiller (1985), 48 C.R.(3d) 226 (Ont. Dist. Ct.), refd to. [para. 29].

R. v. Sharpe (J.R.), [2001] 1 S.C.R. 45; 264 N.R. 201; 146 B.C.A.C. 161; 239 W.A.C. 161; 2001 SCC 2, refd to. [para. 36].

R. v. Shelton (C.J.G.) (2006), 391 A.R. 177; 377 W.A.C. 177; 2006 ABCA 190, refd to. [para. 37].

R. v. Hunt (W.E.) (2002), 303 A.R. 240; 273 W.A.C. 240; 2002 ABCA 155, refd to. [para. 38].

R. v. Jorgensen (R.) et al., [1995] 4 S.C.R. 55; 189 N.R. 1; 87 O.A.C. 1, refd to. [para. 40].

R. v. Dorosz, [1971] 3 O.R. 368 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 40].

R. v. Metro News Ltd. (1986), 16 O.A.C. 319; 29 C.C.C.(3d) 35 (C.A.), leave to appeal denied [1986] 2 S.C.R. viii; 74 N.R. 317; 20 O.A.C. 160, refd to. [para. 42].

R. v. Kwok (A.), [2007] O.T.C. 291; 72 W.C.B.(2d) 533 (Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 51].

R. v. Hewlett (J.J.) (2002), 312 A.R. 165; 281 W.A.C. 165; 2002 ABCA 179, refd to. [para. 59].

R. v. Cyr (R.W.), [2006] A.R. Uned. 31; 29 M.V.R.(5th) 159; 2006 ABCA 114, refd to. [para. 60].

R. v. Spiller (1969), 68 W.W.R.(N.S.) 187 (B.C.C.A.), refd to. [para. 60].

R. v. T.L.B. (2007), 409 A.R. 40; 402 W.A.C. 40; 2007 ABCA 61, leave to appeal refused (2007), 375 N.R. 391; 401 A.R. 16; 391 W.A.C. 16 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 79].

R. v. B.C.M. (2008), 259 B.C.A.C. 222; 436 W.A.C. 222; 2008 BCCA 365, refd to. [para. 80].

R. v. Steadman (D.W.) (2001), 301 A.R. 355; 2001 ABQB 1004, refd to. [para. 84].

R. v. Ritchie, [1997] O.J. No. 5564 (C.J. Prov. Div.), refd to. [para. 88].

R. v. Stroemple (G.) (1995), 85 O.A.C. 225; 105 C.C.C.(3d) 187 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 89].

R. v. Latimer (R.W.), [2001] 1 S.C.R. 3; 264 N.R. 99; 203 Sask.R. 1; 240 W.A.C. 1; 2001 SCC 1, refd to. [para. 90].

R. v. C.A.M., [1996] 1 S.C.R. 500; 194 N.R. 321; 73 B.C.A.C. 81; 120 W.A.C. 81, refd to. [para. 90].

R. v. M.L.F. (2005), 376 A.R. 128; 360 W.A.C. 128; 2005 ABCA 423, refd to. [para. 96].

R. v. E.O. (2003), 169 O.A.C. 110 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 98].

R. v. Willard, [2004] O.J. No. 4717 (Sup. Ct.), affd. [2004] O.J. No. 5585 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 98].

R. v. Hildebrandt (D.) (2005), 267 Sask.R. 163; 198 C.C.C.(3d) 546; 2005 SKPC 35, refd to. [para. 104].

R. v. Tylek (M.C.) (2006), 392 A.R. 304 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 106].

R. v. Johnson (R.A.) (2008), 317 Sask.R. 123; 2008 SKQB 244, refd to. [para. 107].

R. v. Larocque (J.D.) (2004), 366 A.R. 139; 2004 ABPC 114, refd to. [para. 108].

R. v. Anderson (W.R.) (2005), 378 A.R. 55 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 109].

R. v. Innes (J.) (2008), 429 A.R. 164; 421 W.A.C. 164; 2008 ABCA 129, refd to. [para. 117].

R. v. Redhead (D.G.) (2006), 384 A.R. 206; 367 W.A.C. 206; 206 C.C.C.(3d) 315; 2006 ABCA 84, leave to appeal refused (2006), 358 N.R. 397; 412 A.R. 394; 404 W.A.C. 394 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 145].

R. v. Currie (E.R.) (2008), 432 A.R. 283; 424 W.A.C. 283; 2008 ABCA 168, refd to. [para. 147].

R. v. T.L.B. (2007), 404 A.R. 283; 394 W.A.C. 283; 218 C.C.C.(3d) 389; 2007 ABCA 135, refd to. [para. 147].

R. v. Ayoob (2005), 68 W.C.B.(2d) 426 (Ont. Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 153].

R. v. Have (2005), 194 C.C.C.(3d) 151 (Ont. Sup. Ct.), refd to. [para. 153].

R. v. Aylesworth, 2008 ONCJ 68, refd to. [para. 154].

R. v. S.S.C. (2008), 257 B.C.A.C. 57; 432 W.A.C. 57; 2008 BCCA 262, refd to. [para. 159].

Counsel:

M. Brad Leebody (Taylor Beaver LLP), for the accused/applicant;

Diane Hollinshead and Tamara Friesen (Special Prosecutions Branch), for the Crown.

This application was heard on October 27-31, 2008, before Topolniski, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Edmonton, who delivered the following judgment on November 13, 2008.

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8 practice notes
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8 cases
  • R. v. Keough (J.A.), (2011) 512 A.R. 1 (QB)
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    • 24 Enero 2011
    ...ABCA 423, refd to. [para. 67]. R. v. L.W. (2006), 208 O.A.C. 42; 206 C.C.C.(3d) 543 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 77]. R. v. Schultz (B.J.) (2008), 450 A.R. 37; 2008 ABQB 679, refd to. [para. 83]. R. v. D.D. (2007), 229 O.A.C. 20; 86 O.R.(3d) 721; 2007 ONCA 619, refd to. [para. 89]. R. v. Bono (A......
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