Dec 10 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A man found with a significant amount of cocaine and heroin has had his case thrown out after a three-day trial because police strip-searched him on the side of a highway and delayed his access to a lawyer. In his decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Cary Boswell excluded incriminating evidence because officers violated Robert […]
Nov 26 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A con man found guilty of defrauding a romantic partner of hundreds of thousands of dollars is set to argue the proceedings should be stayed because prison guards violated his rights with unnecessary and frequent strip searches. In his application to Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, Shaun Rootenberg argues the breach of his charter […]
Nov 8 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Another prosecution case of a person caught with hard drugs has fallen apart because police refused him timely access to a lawyer. In his decision, Ontario court Judge Patrice Band said admitting the drug evidence in the case of a man identified in court records only as L.D. would bring the system of […]
Nov 7 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Forcing a military court to hear and decide an appeal from former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr is inappropriate, the American government says. In new legal filings, U.S. government lawyers argue the years-long delay in hearing the Canadian's case is reasonable, and civilian court intervention unjustified. American troops captured the Toronto-born Khadr, 33, […]
Nov 6 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A fatal boat crash on an Ontario lake this summer has prompted a wrongful death lawsuit against celebrity businessman Kevin O'Leary and his wife Linda O'Leary, who was driving their vessel. In an untested and unproven statement of claim, relatives of a Susanne Brito — one of two people who died in the collision — seek $2 million in […]
Nov 5 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A bus company is on the hook for a $7 million award to a girl who suffered a brain injury when she jumped from a moving vehicle in keeping with an informal last-day-of-school tradition, Ontario's top court has ruled. In rejecting most arguments from the bus company, the Court of Appeal found no issues with […]
Nov 3 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Barring drug-using federal prisoners from access to clean syringes puts them at risk for serious diseases and violates their rights, an Ontario court is set to hear. For two days starting Monday, prison and other activists are expected to make the case that Ottawa's rules and policies around needles in prisons are unconstitutional. […]
Nov 1 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A pharmacist who went door-to-door handing out naloxone kits in a neighbourhood ravaged by opioid use choked back tears on Friday as he admitted to professional misconduct. At a disciplinary hearing, Jason Newman said he felt he had no choice given the urgent need for the potentially life-saving drug. "I am guilty of misconduct," […]
Oct 31 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A man found in possession of the highly toxic opioid carfentanil has had the drug evidence excluded because the police officer had no valid reason to arrest and search him. In his decision, Ontario court Judge Russell Silverstein found the special constable had violated Robert Gray's rights in seizing the drugs. "The breach of the accused's […]
Oct 31 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The tribunal responsible for disciplining lawyers in Ontario has asked the courts whether Canada's refugee board is in contempt for failing to produce certain documents. The request comes in the case of Toronto immigration lawyer, Richard Odeleye, accused by three former clients of sexual harassment. They allege he made unwelcome sexual advances and comments, or […]
Oct 26 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The federal government has been ordered to pay $1.12 million in legal fees for a segregation class action in a judgment critical of Ottawa's arguments for paying less. In awarding the costs to representative plaintiff Jullian Reddock, Superior Court Justice Paul Perell rejected the government's contention that the requested fees were unreasonable or […]
Oct 24 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Relatives of two men who were denied potentially life-saving liver transplants because of their alcoholism can press their constitutional fight against a hospital for its refusal to perform the surgery, an Ontario court has ruled. In his ruling, Superior Court Justice Andras Schreck rejected arguments from Toronto-based University Health Network that the charter […]
Oct 22 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — BRAMPTON, Ont. — Liberal newcomer Maninder Sidhu cruised to victory on Monday in the heavily immigrant riding of Brampton East once held provincially by New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh. The entrepreneur and father handily beat out his NDP and Conservative rivals to take the seat northwest of Toronto. While economic and environmental issues were a […]
Oct 18 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A man found guilty of defrauding his romantic partner lost his bid to have the judge declare a mistrial on Friday but will get the chance to reargue his position that charges against him should be stayed. In her ruling, Superior Court Justice Beth Allen rejected Shaun Rootenberg's mistrial arguments which alleged she […]
Oct 10 2019 — Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A recommendation that a Quebec Superior Court justice be removed from the bench was reasonable, Federal Court ruled on Thursday in a long-running and complex judicial saga. In reaching its conclusion, the court dismissed numerous objections Justice Michel Girouard had raised about the Canadian Judicial Council's recommendation to the minister of justice. "The council's […]