R. v. W.G.B., 2004 BCCA 416

• Judge: Newbury, Saunders and Smith, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: June 21, 2004
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: 2004 BCCA 416;(2004), 204 B.C.A.C. 3 (CA)

R. v. W.G.B. (2004), 204 B.C.A.C. 3 (CA);

    333 W.A.C. 3

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2004] B.C.A.C. TBEd. AU.004

Regina (respondent) v. W.G.B. (appellant)

(CA029730; 2004 BCCA 416)

Indexed As: R. v. W.G.B.

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Newbury, Saunders and Smith, JJ.A.

July 29, 2004.

Summary:

The accused was convicted of sexually assaulting a five year old boy. The Crown applied to have the accused declared a dan­gerous offender or, alternatively, a long-term offender.

The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported at [2002] B.C.T.C. 567, declared the accused a dangerous offender. The accused appealed.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Editor's Note: Certain names in the following case have been initialized or the case otherwise edited to prevent the disclosure of identities where required by law, publication ban, Maritime Law Book's editorial policy or otherwise.

Criminal Law - Topic 6502

Dangerous or long-term offenders - Deten­tion - General - Considerations and condi­tions precedent - The accused was con­victed of sexually assaulting a young boy - The sentencing judge held that the accused was a dangerous offender - The accused appealed - The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the accused's appeal - Although the sentencing judge erred by not considering the availability of the long-term offender provisions before finding the accused to be a dangerous offender and imposing an indeterminate sentence, there was no reasonable possibil­ity that she would have sentenced the accused as a long-term offender rather than a dangerous offender - The sentencing judge had conducted a thorough inquiry and was satisfied that there was no reason­able possibility that the risk posed by the accused could eventually be controlled in the community - She found, inter alia, that the accused did not acknowledge his sexual deviancy and was not motivated to receive treatment or change his behaviour - He continued to be a high risk to reoffend especially against children - See paragraphs 1 to 21.

Criminal Law - Topic 6503

Dangerous or long-term offenders - Deten­tion - Dangerous offender - Defined - [See Criminal Law - Topic 6502 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 6517

Dangerous or long-term offenders - Deten­tion - Appeals - Dismissal of - Where no miscarriage of justice - [See Criminal Law - Topic 6502 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Johnson (J.J.), [2003] 2 S.C.R. 357; 308 N.R. 333; 186 B.C.A.C. 161; 306 W.A.C. 161; 177 C.C.C.(3d) 97, affing. (2001), 159 B.C.A.C. 255; 259 W.A.C. 255; 158 C.C.C.(3d) 155; 2001 BCCA 456, consd. [para. 1].

R. v. Lyons, [1987] 2 S.C.R. 309; 80 N.R. 161; 82 N.S.R.(2d) 271; 207 A.P.R. 271; 37 C.C.C.(3d) 1, refd to. [para. 6].

R. v. Currie (R.O.R.), [1997] 2 S.C.R. 260; 211 N.R. 321; 100 O.A.C. 161; 115 C.C.C.(3d) 205, refd to. [para. 13].

R. v. Gibbon (M.A.) (2003), 190 B.C.A.C. 1; 311 W.A.C. 1; 2003 BCCA 582, dist. [para. 15].

R. v. Peters (L.T.), [2003] B.C.A.C. Uned. 165; 2003 BCCA 568, dist. [para. 15].

R. v. Mitchell (S.K.) (2002), 162 B.C.A.C. 247; 264 W.A.C. 247; 161 C.C.C.(3d) 508; 2002 BCCA 48, refd to. [para. 20].

R. v. Laboucan (A.F.) (2002), 170 B.C.A.C. 118; 279 W.A.C. 118; 166 C.C.C.(3d) 280; 2002 BCCA 376, consd. [para. 23].

R. v. B.R.B. (2002), 174 B.C.A.C. 243; 286 W.A.C. 243; 2002 BCCA 420, consd. [para. 23].

R. v. Rindero (J.E.) (2002), 174 B.C.A.C. 262; 286 W.A.C. 262; 2002 BCCA 619, consd. [para. 23].

R. v. Alexcee (A.P.) (2003), 184 B.C.A.C. 268; 302 W.A.C. 268; 2003 BCCA 376, consd. [para. 23].

R. v. Proulx (J.K.D.), [2000] 1 S.C.R. 61; 249 N.R. 201; 142 Man.R.(2d) 161; 212 W.A.C. 161; 140 C.C.C.(3d) 449, refd to. [para. 28].

R. v. Dagenais (R.A.) (2003), 339 A.R. 132; 312 W.A.C. 132; 181 C.C.C.(3d) 332; 2003 ABCA 376, refd to. [para. 31].

R. v. Nepoose (R.J.) (1997), 200 A.R. 273; 146 W.A.C. 273; 118 C.C.C.(3d) 570 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 31].

Counsel:

J. Oman, for the appellant;

K. Ker and S. Brown, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on June 21, 2004, at Vancouver, British Columbia, by Newbury, Saunders and Smith, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Smith, J.A., delivered the following judgment for the court on July 29, 2004.