NOVA SCOTIA COURT OF APPEAL
Citation: R. v. Barrett, 2004 NSCA 38
Date: 20040312
Docket: CAC 195228
Registry: Halifax
Between:
John Robert Barrett
Appellant
v.
Her Majesty the Queen
Respondent
JUDGE: Cromwell, J.A.
APPEAL HEARD: December 9, 2003
JUDGMENT DELIVERED: March 12, 2004
SUBJECT: Criminal Law - Appeal from Conviction - Unreasonable Verdict
SUMMARY: The appellant was convicted at trial of threatening serious bodily harm, extortion and aggravated assault. Following a dispute about payment for landscaping work, the appellant said to the home owner: “What if some guys arrive at your house (or your doorstep) tonight?” Later that day, two other persons from the landscaping company arrived at the home owner’s home and badly beat him. The following morning the home owners paid the outstanding balance.
ISSUES: Were the verdicts of guilty reasonable?
RESULT: Appeal with respect to the threatening conviction dismissed; appeals with respect to aggravated assault and extortion by violence allowed and acquittals entered. With respect to the threat charge, the judge’s conclusion that the appellant intended to threaten the home owner and that the words used by the appellant viewed objectively constituted a threat of serious bodily harm, were ones that a reasonable trier of fact acting judicially could have reached. However, particularly in light of concessions by the Crown on appeal, the judge’s conclusions respecting the charges of aggravated assault and extortion were not ones that were reasonably open to the trial judge on the record. Accordingly, those convictions were set aside and acquittals entered.
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This information sheet does not form part of the court’s judgment. Quotes must be from the judgment, not this cover sheet. The full court judgment consists of 11 pages. |