ARCTIC OBITER

NWT DECISION DIGEST
SUPREME COURT
CRIMINAL LAW – PARTY
LIABILITY – AFTER-THE-FACT
CONTRIBUTION TO AN
OFFENCE
R v Letawski
2013 NWTSC 11 (February 21, 2013)
Presiding: Justice L.A. Charbonneau
For the Appellant: C. Davison
For the Respondent: D. Vaillancourt
The appellant was with a female
friend when they found her spouse
in bed with another woman. An
incident ensued in which the
female friend broke a bottle over
the other woman’s head.
The
victim attempted to leave and the
appellant pushed her back from
the door.
Maureen McGuire
Alberta Justice
Edmonton
The appellant was
charged and convicted as a party
to the assault with a weapon. He
appealed his conviction on the
basis that the after-the-fact push
could not found liability as a party
to the assault with a weapon.
Appeal allowed – Section 21 of the
Criminal Code applies to actions
occurring before or during the
commission of an offence.
Here,
the assault with the bottle was not
still ongoing when the appellant
pushed the victim. The assault
with a weapon was complete by
that time and the appellant’s push
cannot be said to be part of that
transaction. The push was a
separate assault, but was not the
offence charged. Party liability for
after the fact conduct is pursuant
to section 23 of the Code (not
applicable here), not section 21.
~
CRIMINAL LAW – CREDIBILITY
ASSESSMENT
R v Sikyea
2013 NWTSC 12 (February 20, 2013)
Presiding: Justice L.A. Charbonneau
For the Crown: D. Vaillancourt
For the defendant: T. Boyd
The complainant testified the
accused broke into her home and
sexually assaulted her. The
accused testified he was invited in
and had consensual sex with the
complainant.
Accused convicted of break, enter
and commit sexual assault --
Assessment of credibility is not an
all-or-nothing exercise. The trier of
fact is free to accept some aspects
of a witness’s testimony and reject
others. The accused’s versions of
events simply did not make sense
and was unbelievable – it was
rejected. There were problems
with the complainant’s evidence,
but those problems did not
compromise her credibility on the
key issue.
~
CRIMINAL LAW – SENTENCING
– BREAK, ENTER AND COMMIT
SEXUAL ASSAULT –
CONSIDERATION OF
ABORIGINAL HERITAGE
R v Sikyea
2013 NWTSC 13 (February 20, 2013)
Presiding: Justice L.A. Charbonneau
For the Crown: D. Vaillancourt
For the defendant: T. Boyd
Offender sentenced to seven years’
imprisonment for break, enter and
commit sexual assault – The
offender broke into the victim’s
home and sexually assaulted her
while she was sleeping. Invasion
of a person’s home is an
aggravating factor. Sexual assault
by forced intercourse is a very
serious type of sexual assault
because it shows the complete and
blatant disregard for the personal
integrity and dignity of the victim.
The starting point for this type of
sexual assault is three years. There
were no mitigating factors.
The offender was of aboriginal
descent and had been exposed to
systemic factors that many
abo rigi nal offenders face.
However, when dealing with
serious offences and offenders who
pose a serious threat to the
22 ■ MARCH/APRIL 2013 ARCTIC OBITER