Co-accused charged with break and enter. 25 month delay prior to trial. First trial date adjourned due to late disclosure of a witness statement. On the eve of the second trial date the Crown disclosed 700 pages of cell records and surveillance reports.
Held: Stay of Proceedings.
Actual prejudice found in relation to one of the accused given the potential loss of beneficial evidence, and time spent in pre-trial custody. As per Godin, 2009 SCC 26, prejudice also inferred given the lengthy delay. “The longer the delay the more likely that such an inference will be drawn.”
A. Ouellette, S. Kothari –
Defence Counsel