Jordan application. Accused charged with assault. 23 month delay. The trial had been adjourned two times: (1) to allow defence counsel to attend at funeral; (2) new disclosure came to light to both the Crown and defence on the second trial date (a video recording captured by a Crown witness on his phone).
Held: No s. 11(b) breach.
The first adjournment constituted an “exceptional circumstance” within the meaning of Jordan, and the entire 5.5 month delay that resulted was subtracted from the total period of delay. Regarding the second adjournment (which resulted in a 7 month period of delay), a further 3 months was subtracted, given that “the Defence made minimal effort to bring to the attention of the Court or the Crown that the delay was problematic.” After all periods of waiver and/or exceptional circumstances were subtracted, the total delay was 12 months – under the presumptive ceiling created in Jordan.
P. Royal – Defence Counsel