Supreme Court
Decision Information
Decision information:
Abstract: Transcript of the Decision on a Bail Hearing
Decision Content
R. v. K.M., 2015 NWTSC 14 S-1-YO-2014-000005 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES sitting as YOUTH JUSTICE COURT pursuant to s. 13 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - and - K.M. (A Young Person) Transcript of the Decision on a Bail Hearing delivered by The Honourable Justice L. A. Charbonneau, in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on February 2, 2015. INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS PROHIBITED FROM PUBLICATION PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 110 AND 111 OF THE YOUTH CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT AND PURSUANT TO SECTION 28 OF THE YOUTH CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT AND SECTION 517 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE APPEARANCES: Ms. J. Scott: Counsel on behalf of the Crown Mr. T. Amound: Agent for Mr. C. Davison, Counsel on behalf of the Young Person ------------------------------------- Charge under s. 235(1) C.C. 1 R. v. K.M. (A Young Person) 2 February 2, 2015 - Yellowknife 3 Decision of Justice L. A. Charbonneau 4 (Bail Hearing) 5 6 7 THE COURT: K.M. faces a charge of first 8 degree murder arising from the death of Charlotte 9 Lafferty on March 22nd, 2014. He was arrested on 10 March 22nd and he has been in custody since. 11 K.M.'s date of birth is April 18th, 1996. 12 He turned 18 a month after Ms. Lafferty's death. 13 As a result, this case is governed by the Youth 14 Criminal Justice Act. 15 K.M. has chosen to be tried by a judge and 16 jury. Because of that, this court is deemed to 17 be a Youth Justice Court under section 13(3) of 18 the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which I will 19 refer to as the YCJA from this point on. 20 K.M. had his preliminary hearing and he was 21 committed to stand trial on October 16th, 2014. 22 Since then, a pre-trial conference has been held 23 and dates have been set for hearings into certain 24 pre-trial issues as well as for the trial itself. 25 Pre-trial applications will proceed on May 5th 26 and the week of August 24th, 2015; and the jury 27 trial, which is scheduled to last three weeks, is Official Court Reporters 1 1 scheduled to start January 25th, 2016 — a year 2 from now essentially. 3 K.M. has filed an application seeking 4 release, and his parents C.K. and D.K. now live 5 in Yellowknife and are proposed to be his 6 sureties. The release plan contemplates K.M. 7 residing with them and being bound by very strict 8 conditions. He would essentially be on house 9 arrest and under the constant supervision of one 10 of his parents at all times. The Crown opposes 11 K.M.'s release and takes the position that 12 nothing short of actual detention can address the 13 concerns that arise in this case. 14 There have been issues in the case law about 15 whether this court's jurisdiction in youth 16 matters in situations like this one is limited to 17 the conduct of the trial or whether it extends to 18 bail as well. In one decision, R. v. M.(T.R.), 19 2013 ABQB 571, the court concluded that the 20 Provincial Court retains exclusive jurisdiction 21 over bail, even on murder cases, where the young 22 person has chosen to be tried by a judge and 23 jury, and that the Superior Court's jurisdiction 24 is restricted to the trial itself. If this 25 reasoning is followed, it would mean that this 26 bail hearing should be held in what is otherwise 27 referred to as the Territorial Court sitting as Official Court Reporters 2 1 the Youth Court. 2 Other decisions have come to the conclusion 3 that the Superior Court does have jurisdiction 4 over bail in situations where the young person 5 has elected trial in that court; for example, in 6 R. v. W.(E.), 2004 SKCA 114; R. v. B.(J.), 2012 7 ONSC 4957; R. v. H.(B.W.), 2005 Carswell Man 397. 8 There is not complete consensus as to what the 9 trigger is for that jurisdiction — the election 10 as to mode of trial or the committal to stand 11 trial — but all have concluded that the Superior 12 Court has jurisdiction. 13 Here, the Crown and defence are in agreement 14 to have the bail hearing in this court. This, to 15 me, means I do not really need to decide which of 16 the two interpretations I would favour. This is 17 because the YCJA creates its own stand alone bail 18 regime, but it also incorporates, by reference, 19 the bail provisions of the Criminal Code, unless 20 those provisions are inconsistent with or 21 excluded by the YCJA. 22 One of the bail provisions of the Code, 23 section 523, gives the trial court jurisdiction 24 over bail in certain circumstances: first, when 25 the trial is ongoing, because that provision 26 refers to "the court before which the accused is 27 being tried." In that situation, the Official Court Reporters 3 1 jurisdiction does not depend on the consent of 2 the parties. The same provision goes on to state 3 that bail can be determined "by the court before 4 which the accused is to be tried" when the 5 parties consent. That provision contemplates a 6 situation where an order dealing with bail has 7 already been made and is sought to be changed on 8 cause being shown, but I think it also applies 9 when, as here, there simply has not been any bail 10 hearing and the matter is before the trial court. 11 It makes sense for this court, as the trial 12 court, to have jurisdiction over bail whether or 13 not there has been a bail hearing previously. 14 For that reason, it is clear, in my view, that 15 this court has jurisdiction over K.M.'s bail 16 hearing, and I leave to another day the 17 consideration of what would happen if, in a 18 situation like this one, the Crown and defence 19 were not in agreement to have the hearing in this 20 court. This court would then have to decide 21 which of the interpretations it will adopt. 22 I now turn to the evidence that was adduced 23 at the bail hearing two weeks ago. That evidence 24 includes the following: An affidavit sworn by 25 Alexandrea Stewart, who is a paralegal at the 26 Crown's office, which sets out in detail the 27 evidence that the Crown intends to adduce at Official Court Reporters 4 1 K.M.'s trial. The affidavit also sets out 2 information about an offence that K.M. committed 3 on November 28th, 2013, and for which he has now 4 been sentenced. It attaches, as exhibits, the 5 Agreed Statement of Facts pertaining to that 6 offence and a presentence report that was 7 prepared for that hearing. The report provides a 8 lot of information, a lot of positive information 9 in fact, about K.M.'s family support, as well as 10 information about some of his personal 11 circumstances. 12 Crown counsel provided some additional 13 information at the bail hearing about Ms. 14 Lafferty's age, the age of her children, the 15 population of Fort Good Hope, and the familial 16 connection between her and K.M.'s family. 17 The Crown also filed as an exhibit a 18 photograph which depicts Ms. Lafferty's body 19 shortly after she was found by the police officer 20 who first responded to the call on the morning of 21 March 22nd. This is the exhibit that is now the 22 subject of a sealing order. The photograph shows 23 the deceased's body and, in particular, the 24 extensive injuries to her face. 25 Defence filed an affidavit sworn by K.M.'s 26 father, C.K. One of the exhibits to that 27 affidavit is an excerpt of the same presentence Official Court Reporters 5 1 report that is attached to Ms. Stewart's 2 affidavit. The other exhibit to C.K.'s affidavit 3 is an Acknowledgement of Surety Form signed by 4 K.M.'s mother, D.K. 5 Defence has also filed C.K.'s criminal 6 record, which is somewhat dated, as well as the 7 list of conditions that are being proposed as 8 part of K.M.'s release plan. 9 I have carefully reviewed the details of the 10 evidence set out in Ms. Stewart's affidavit. I 11 am not going to refer to each element and aspect 12 here, but I do want to refer to some of this 13 evidence in some detail to put my decision in 14 context. 15 At the time of her death Ms. Lafferty was 23 16 years old. Overall, the allegations are that on 17 the evening of March 21st, she and K.M. were 18 among a group of young people who spent time 19 together socializing and consuming alcohol in 20 Fort Good Hope. On the morning of March 22nd, 21 behind the elders' centre in Fort Good Hope, 22 Ms. Lafferty was killed. She died of blunt head 23 trauma as a result of a violent attack. She was 24 struck repeatedly during this attack. She was 25 kicked repeatedly on her body and in her head. 26 She was struck repeatedly with a piece of wood. 27 Her clothes were removed. She was kicked between Official Court Reporters 6 1 her legs. Her attacker urinated on her. The 2 assault was reported while it was going on and 3 police attended the scene shortly thereafter. 4 Ms. Lafferty was pronounced dead by a nurse 5 shortly after she was discovered. The extent of 6 her facial injuries were such that she had to be 7 identified through dental records at the autopsy. 8 The Crown alleges that K.M. is the person 9 who attacked her. To prove this, the Crown 10 proposes to adduce various elements of 11 circumstantial evidence pointing to K.M. being 12 responsible for this. 13 First, there are allegations coming from 14 witnesses about contact between Ms. Lafferty and 15 K.M. shortly before her death. 16 Miranda McNeely is a witness who saw Ms. 17 Lafferty and K.M. that evening and the last 18 witness to have seen her alive. She saw them at 19 the house of Lee-Ana McNeely, and the three of 20 them left and decided to go to Miranda's house. 21 Miranda's house is located at the back of the 22 elders' residence in Fort Good Hope. Once at 23 Miranda's house, they continued drinking. 24 Miranda opened a mickey of Smirnoff vodka and 25 they drank a quarter of it. Miranda gave the 26 rest of the mickey to Ms. Lafferty before she 27 left. Miranda said Ms. Lafferty left with K.M. Official Court Reporters 7 1 A short time after, Miranda heard Ms. Lafferty's 2 voice yelling her name. 3 The second witness is Cora Rabisca. She was 4 at Miranda's house sleeping when the three others 5 arrived. They stayed in the living room, 6 drinking, while Cora went to another room to go 7 back to sleep. Miranda came to tell her they 8 were leaving, and Cora told Miranda she should 9 stay home. 10 These two witnesses are expected to put Ms. 11 Lafferty and K.M. together on the morning of 12 March 22nd in the vicinity of the elders' centre 13 shortly before the attack was reported to police. 14 Then there are allegations regarding the 15 evidence of people who witnessed the assault on 16 Ms. Lafferty. Two residents of the elders' 17 centre saw her being assaulted. Barthelemy 18 Kotchile awoke at about 7 a.m. to a noise coming 19 from the back of the building. He lives in the 20 elders' centre. He looked out and saw a young 21 man beating a woman who was laying on the ground 22 behind the building. The attacker was kicking 23 the victim in the head. He saw the man pull off 24 her pants and kick her between the legs, on the 25 head and on her body. He saw him urinating on 26 her. He saw the attacker hit her repeatedly with 27 a two-by-two wooden board on her head and on her Official Court Reporters 8 1 body. Mr. Kotchile called the RCMP as he was 2 watching this through the window. He made the 3 first call at 7:17 a.m. and made a second call at 4 7:24 a.m. Communication was difficult during the 5 calls because Mr. Kotchile is a Slavey speaker. 6 After the second call to the police, he called 7 his neighbour John Cotchilly. He then went to 8 the front of the building to wait for the police. 9 The attack was still ongoing when he left his 10 room and at that point the attacker was hitting 11 the victim with the wooden board. Mr. Kotchile 12 did not recognize the man but described him as a 13 young male between 15 and 20 years old, quite 14 tall but under six feet tall, medium build, clean 15 shaven and wearing a dark hood. He said the man 16 wore a down-filled jacket described as an army or 17 hunting jacket. He agreed with the suggestion 18 made by the police officer that it was a green 19 jacket and added that it had white spots. I 20 gather that in his preliminary hearing testimony, 21 he said the jacket was brown and grey with white 22 spots and that it was an army/hunter type jacket. 23 John Cotchilly, the neighbour, was awoken by 24 Mr. Kotchile at about 7:30. He went and looked 25 at the back of his unit and he saw someone 26 standing and someone lying on the ground. He did 27 not see anyone else behind the building. He Official Court Reporters 9 1 called the RCMP at 7:33 to report that a man was 2 beating a young girl behind the elders' complex 3 and he thought the woman was already dead. A few 4 minutes later he saw a police officer arrive at 5 the back of the complex, so he went outside. The 6 police officer was trying to lift the young girl 7 and asked him to go get a blanket. 8 Then there are allegations regarding the 9 evidence of the police officer who first 10 responded to this call. He received a call from 11 RCMP dispatch at 7:19 a.m. The report he 12 received was that there was an assault behind the 13 elders' complex. He went there and arrived near 14 the building at 7:30. As he drove around the 15 building, he saw a male walking out of the 16 driveway at the back of the building. The person 17 was carrying a wooden board on his shoulder, two 18 to three feet long, and there was a red stain at 19 the top of the board. The officer saw a mickey 20 of Smirnoff vodka in the pocket of the person's 21 coat. The person was wearing a light brown 22 jacket and a black hat or black hood and was 23 clean shaven. 24 The officer approached the man and rolled 25 down the window of his truck. The man's eyes 26 widened. The officer could not immediately 27 remember the name of the person but he recognized Official Court Reporters 10 1 the young man as K.M. He had had dealings with 2 K.M. in the past. Just as he was stopping the 3 vehicle, K.M. dropped the wooden board and 4 started running. The officer started to chase 5 him, telling him he was under arrest. He saw 6 K.M. reach for the pocket where he had seen the 7 mickey of vodka. He also saw K.M. turn around 8 and look at him as he was running away. 9 The officer stopped the chase to attend to 10 the victim. At the back of the elders' complex 11 he found blood splattered around and clothes. He 12 found Ms. Lafferty's naked body on the snow. She 13 was lying on her back, and her arms were locked 14 in clothing as if someone had tried to remove all 15 the top clothing at the same time but got stuck 16 at her arms. There was no movement or sign of 17 life from her. Her face was injured to the point 18 of being unrecognizable. 19 The officer at that point was not sure if 20 she was still alive. He called for backup. He 21 asked residents at the elders' complex to phone 22 the nursing station. He tried to lift Ms. 23 Lafferty's body to get her to his truck to get 24 medical attention. He was unable to do that so 25 he dragged her to his truck. The nurse arrived 26 at 7:44. By then the officer had been able to 27 put Ms. Lafferty into the vehicle, but the nurse Official Court Reporters 11 1 pronounced her dead. 2 There are other allegations that relate to 3 utterances said to have been made by K.M.'s 4 mother. The Crown will seek to adduce these 5 utterances allegedly made to two people. The 6 admissibility of these utterances is in issue and 7 will be the subject of voir dires to determine 8 their admissibility. 9 The first utterance occurred on the morning 10 of March 22nd at around 8:30 a.m. Joseph Turo 11 was at the K.M. home. He overheard D.K. say, 12 "K.M., come here. How come you've got blood all 13 over your hands?" and "You're not supposed to be 14 drinking, you're under conditions." 15 The allegation regarding the second 16 utterance is that on that same morning of March 17 22nd, D.K. phoned Aurora McNeely and told her she 18 was worried that the person found behind the 19 elders' centre was L.T., K.M.'s girlfriend, 20 because he had come home with blood on him. D.K. 21 allegedly told Aurora McNeely that K.M. told her 22 he had blood on him because some people were 23 trying to fight with him. 24 It is alleged that when K.M. was arrested at 25 7:50 p.m. on March 22nd, he had fresh cuts on his 26 left finger and cuts to both palms of his hands. 27 It is also alleged there were empty Official Court Reporters 12 1 containers of alcohol in his room that were in 2 plain sight. 3 The clothes that he was wearing — his belt 4 and his shoes — were seized and were among the 5 items that were sent out for forensic analysis. 6 The Crown plans to adduce the results of the 7 forensic testing done on several exhibits seized 8 in this investigation and the results are 9 outlined at paragraph 100 of Ms. Stewart's 10 affidavit, in particular: 11 The results of some of the DNA testing 12 that was done, for example, DNA found on the left 13 side of the left shoe seized from K.M. upon 14 arrest, matches the DNA of Ms. Lafferty; 15 The DNA profile of Ms. Lafferty was found 16 in areas of the wooden stick presumed to be the 17 murder weapon and K.M.'s DNA was also found on 18 that stick; 19 DNA found on the belt seized from K.M. is 20 from mixed origin originating both from Ms. 21 Lafferty and K.M. 22 There are other forensic results tying K.M. 23 with various things found and the overall 24 circumstances. 25 There are also allegations about things K.M. 26 said that morning. When Ms. Lafferty's mother, 27 Louisa Lafferty, realized her daughter had not Official Court Reporters 13 1 come home on the morning of March 22nd, and once 2 she heard something had happened behind the 3 elders' complex, she made a number of phone calls 4 and spoke to some of the people who had seen her 5 daughter the night before. After speaking with 6 Miranda and learning that her daughter had left 7 Miranda's residence with K.M., she went to the 8 residence of his parents to speak to him to find 9 out where he had left her daughter. K.M.'s 10 mother told her he was sleeping and could not be 11 awoken but she would keep trying. Later that 12 morning K.M. called Louisa Lafferty. He told her 13 he had been getting too high the night before so 14 he had left Ms. Lafferty at Miranda McNeely's 15 place and had gone home to bed. 16 This is an overview of the main features of 17 the evidence that the Crown proposes to adduce at 18 this trial. I have not referred to every single 19 aspect of what is listed in Ms. Stewart's 20 affidavit, but these are some of the main 21 features. 22 The Crown also presented evidence about the 23 events that led to K.M.'s conviction for assault 24 causing bodily harm. The conviction and sentence 25 took place after Ms. Lafferty's death but relates 26 to events that had happened in November 2013. 27 K.M. was awaiting trial in relation to that Official Court Reporters 14 1 matter when he was charged with Ms. Lafferty's 2 murder. 3 K.M. was arrested and charged on November 4 28th, 2013, for aggravated assault, uttering 5 threats, and being unlawfully in a dwelling 6 house. He was released the same day on an 7 undertaking which included several conditions, 8 including no contact conditions with respect to 9 certain individuals, a condition that he abstain 10 absolutely from the consumption of alcohol, that 11 he abide by a curfew and be in his residence 12 between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. His mother was given 13 a notice to parent in relation to that charge and 14 was advised of the conditions of his release. 15 K.M. had his trial on that matter on October 16 2nd and 3rd, 2014. Mid trial he entered a plea 17 of guilty to assault causing bodily harm on 18 Myrine Kakfwi. 19 The facts admitted at the sentencing hearing 20 included that K.M. had had a disagreement with 21 Mr. Kakfwi earlier in the evening and that there 22 had been an altercation between them. A short 23 time after this they met again and the 24 confrontation continued. At one point while Mr. 25 Kakfwi was lying on the landing area in front of 26 the door to the house, K.M. repeatedly kicked and 27 punched him in the upper body area. Mr. Kakfwi Official Court Reporters 15 1 had his arms and hands up around his head for 2 protection. Two other people who were there were 3 telling K.M. to stop. He picked up a bench that 4 was on the landing and threw it on Mr. Kakfwi and 5 then left in his truck. 6 Mr. Kakfwi suffered scratches and swelling 7 to his forehead, a swollen cheek, bruising to his 8 ears, and pain in his chest and on his hand as a 9 result of this assault. 10 For that offence, K.M. was sentenced to four 11 months' custody, deemed to have been served by 12 time already spent in custody. 13 I now turn to the release plan that was 14 presented. The proposed release plan is that 15 K.M. would live with his parents in Yellowknife 16 and would be under their constant supervision. 17 He would be on house arrest and only allowed to 18 leave his residence for limited purposes and in 19 the presence of one of his parents. The proposed 20 conditions are set out in Exhibit 4, a document 21 filed by defence, but K.M. has indicated through 22 counsel that he would be prepared to agree to 23 additional, and even more restrictive conditions 24 if this is what the court deems necessary to 25 address any concerns regarding his release. 26 Because the role of K.M.'s parents as 27 sureties is such an important component of this Official Court Reporters 16 1 release plan, C.K.'s evidence is important. I 2 have his affidavit, but I also have the benefit 3 of his in-court testimony when he was 4 cross-examined on his affidavit and re-examined 5 by K.M.'s counsel. C.K. explained that he and 6 his wife have not found work in Yellowknife yet 7 but that they are seeking employment. He said 8 that if K.M. was released, one of them would not 9 work to ensure that someone was always around to 10 supervise him. 11 C.K. stopped drinking completely ten years 12 ago. He has a criminal record but the last entry 13 on that record is from 1997. He testified that 14 his wife was drinking alcohol until recently. He 15 said she cut back after K.M. was charged with 16 this offence and that she quit drinking 17 completely just before New Year's this year. He 18 said there is no alcohol in their home. 19 C.K. acknowledged that he was aware of his 20 son's no drinking conditions arising from the 21 November 2013 charges. He was asked whether he 22 did anything to enforce those conditions and he 23 answered that he just told his son every day that 24 he was not supposed to drink. He also said he 25 believed his son was obeying him. He did, 26 however, acknowledge that K.M. sometimes did 27 consume alcohol after he was put on those Official Court Reporters 17 1 conditions and he would come home to "sleep it 2 off." C.K. said this did not happen regularly. 3 He said he was aware that there were empty 4 alcohol bottles in his son's room, as was 5 discovered when the police came to arrest him, 6 but C.K. said he did not think his son ever had 7 alcohol in his room. He said that K.M. had those 8 empty bottles in his room for recycling purposes. 9 He was asked if alcohol was a problem for his son 10 and he answered "not really". C.K. acknowledged 11 that he was aware, after the November 2013 12 charges were laid, that his son was on a no 13 contact order with respect to his girlfriend L.T. 14 He also acknowledged that on July 22nd he and his 15 wife went to the correctional centre to visit 16 their son, that L.T. was with them and that she 17 lied and said she was K.M.'s cousin. The lie was 18 discovered when the staff recognized her. New 19 conditions were put in place for visits. This 20 incident is also referred to in the presentence 21 report. 22 C.K. was also cross-examined about things he 23 said to police after his son was arrested for the 24 murder of Ms. Lafferty. He acknowledged he told 25 police that K.M. was home all night and so was 26 C.K., and he said that K.M. was in his room that 27 evening. Official Court Reporters 18 1 At the bail hearing, C.K. was cross-examined 2 about having gone out for a skidoo ride that 3 night and he acknowledged that he may have left 4 the house at one point to go look for gas but he 5 was not out for very long. He acknowledged that 6 this was different from what he told the police 7 when he gave his statement. 8 I now turn to the analysis of this matter in 9 light of the relevant principles. First, it is 10 important to note that the YCJA has a standalone 11 bail regime that is set out at section 29 of the 12 Act. 13 Paragraph 29(1) provides that pre-trial 14 custody cannot be ordered for a young person as a 15 substitute for appropriate child protection, 16 mental health or other social measure. No one 17 here is suggesting that this provision is 18 engaged. 19 Paragraph 29(2) sets out several 20 requirements that must be met before a young 21 person can be detained. The Crown bears the onus 22 to satisfy the court on a balance of 23 probabilities that each of those requirements are 24 met. 25 The first requirement is that absent history 26 showing a pattern of outstanding charges or 27 findings of guilt, a young person can only be Official Court Reporters 19 1 detained if charged with a serious offence. 2 "Serious offence" is a concept that is defined 3 and, not surprisingly, it includes first degree 4 murder. 5 The second requirement set out at paragraph 6 29(2)(b) is that the court be satisfied, on a 7 balance of probabilities, of one or more of these 8 three things: 9 i) that there is a substantial 10 likelihood that, before being dealt with according to law, the young 11 person will not appear in court when required by law to do so, 12 ii) that detention is necessary for 13 the protection or safety of the public, including any victim of or 14 witness to the offence, having regard to all the circumstances, 15 including a substantial likelihood that the young person will, if 16 released from custody, commit a serious offence, or 17 iii) in the case where the young 18 person has been charged with a serious offence and detention is not 19 justified under subparagraph (i) or (ii) that there are exceptional 20 circumstances that warrant detention and that detention is necessary to 21 maintain confidence in the administration of justice, having 22 regard to the principles set out in section 3 and to all the 23 circumstances, including 24 (A) the apparent strength of the prosecution's case, 25 (B) the gravity of the offence, 26 (C) the circumstances 27 surrounding the commission of the offence, including whether a firearm Official Court Reporters 20 1 was used, and 2 (D) the fact that the young person is liable, on being found 3 guilty, for a potentially lengthy custodial sentence. 4 5 This mirrors the three grounds of detention 6 provided for in the Criminal Code although there 7 are some important differences in wording. For 8 example, the public safety ground does not make 9 reference to risks that the young person will 10 interfere with the administration of justice. 11 The tertiary ground refers to the existence of 12 exceptional circumstances that warrant detention. 13 Those are differences when one compares the YCJA 14 provision with the provisions of section 515 of 15 the Criminal Code. 16 Another important difference in this bail 17 regime is that establishing that the grounds 18 exist for detention is not sufficient. If the 19 Crown establishes that detention is necessary on 20 one or more of these grounds, it must also 21 establish on a balance of probabilities that no 22 condition or combination of conditions of release 23 would address the concerns established under the 24 previous criteria. What has to be established at 25 that stage depends on the grounds for which 26 detention was found to be necessary. But, 27 depending on the case, the court has to be Official Court Reporters 21 1 satisfied that no condition or combination of 2 conditions will reduce, to a level below 3 substantial, the likelihood that the young person 4 would not appear in court; or that no condition 5 or combination of conditions will offer adequate 6 protection to the public from the risk that the 7 young person might otherwise present; or that no 8 condition or combination of conditions will 9 maintain confidence in the administration of 10 justice. 11 And finally, if, after going through this 12 exercise, the court comes to the conclusion that 13 the young person must be detained, the court must 14 go further and consider whether the young person 15 may, instead of being detained, be placed in the 16 care of a responsible person. That is under 17 section 31. To do so, the court must be 18 satisfied that the young person would otherwise 19 be ordered detained in custody, that the young 20 person is willing to be placed in the care of 21 that responsible person, and that the responsible 22 person is willing and able to take care of, and 23 exercise control over, the young person. 24 How, then, do these principles apply to this 25 case and the evidentiary record before me? 26 Any time bail is considered, certain 27 fundamental principles of our law are engaged. Official Court Reporters 22 1 The right to reasonable bail is protected by the 2 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That 3 right is consistent with another fundamental 4 right also protected by the Charter, the 5 presumption of innocence. 6 K.M. is presumed innocent at this stage of 7 the proceedings. Pre-trial detention should not 8 be the norm. It should not be the norm that 9 people whose guilt has not been proven to the 10 requisite degree await trial in custody. That 11 consideration is even more pressing under the 12 YCJA. That Act represents a clear choice by 13 Parliament to have young persons dealt with 14 differently than adults in many respects. This 15 manifests itself in some of the differences that 16 I have already noted in the bail regime that 17 applies to youths but in many other respects as 18 well. On sentencing, the court's discretion, in 19 particular when it comes to imposing custodial 20 sentences, is far more curtailed under the YCJA 21 than under the Criminal Code. 22 Here, the Crown acknowledges that detention 23 should not be the norm and that it should be an 24 exceptional measure, particularly when dealing 25 with young persons. The Crown also concedes that 26 there is no offence for which bail cannot be 27 granted. Although first degree murder is as Official Court Reporters 23 1 serious as an offence gets, the Crown 2 acknowledges that this does not in and of itself 3 mean that bail cannot be granted to a person 4 facing such a charge. But the Crown says K.M.'s 5 detention is required in this case based on the 6 secondary and tertiary grounds. The Crown says 7 that nothing short of detention can address the 8 public safety concerns that arise in this case, 9 and nothing short of detention can maintain 10 public confidence in the administration of 11 justice. 12 Dealing first with public safety. To 13 justify K.M.'s detention on this ground, the 14 Crown must establish on a balance of 15 probabilities that his detention is necessary for 16 the protection or safety of the public, including 17 witnesses, having regard to all the 18 circumstances, including a substantial likelihood 19 that he will, if released, commit a serious 20 offence. 21 The notion of "substantial likelihood" is 22 also present in the secondary ground as it is 23 defined in the Criminal Code and in that context 24 it has been interpreted in R. v. Link, [1990] 25 A.J. No. 169, to mean "substantial risk". I see 26 no reason to interpret that phrase differently in 27 the context of the YCJA. It is important to note Official Court Reporters 24 1 that "substantial risk" means more than the "mere 2 possibility". 3 In examining public safety as a ground to 4 deny bail, the Supreme Court of Canada has made 5 it clear that the danger, possibility, or even 6 likelihood that a person might commit an offence 7 is not sufficient to justify their detention. 8 One of the cases where this was discussed is 9 Morales, [1992] 3 R.C.S. 711, which was referred 10 to by defence in submissions. I just want to 11 quote briefly from it at page 737: 12 Bail is not denied for all 13 individuals who pose a risk of committing an offence or interfering 14 with the administration of justice while on bail. Bail is denied only 15 for those who pose a "substantial likelihood" of committing an offence 16 or interfering with the administration of justice, and only 17 where this "substantial likelihood" endangers "the protection or safety 18 of the public". Moreover, detention is justified only when it is 19 "necessary" for public safety. It is not justified where detention 20 would merely be convenient or advantageous. 21 22 There are two main components or threads to 23 the Crown's argument on public safety. The first 24 stems from the fact that in March 2014, K.M. was 25 on process, facing a serious charge, an offence 26 for which he has now been sentenced. There 27 appears to be strong evidence from various Official Court Reporters 25 1 sources that on the night of Ms. Lafferty's 2 death, K.M. was in breach of several conditions 3 of his undertaking: he was drinking alcohol; he 4 was not inside his residence, contrary to the 5 requirement of his curfew; and he had contact 6 with L.T., something he was also prohibited from 7 doing pursuant to that undertaking. 8 The second component of the Crown's argument 9 on the public safety issue is tied in with the 10 brutal and inexplicable nature of the attack on 11 Ms. Lafferty and the strong evidence that links 12 K.M. to that crime. The Crown says that this 13 type of prolonged and brutal assault raises 14 enormous public safety concerns. And the 15 evidence suggesting breaches of K.M.'s 16 undertaking goes to whether this court can have 17 confidence that he would actually comply with 18 terms imposed upon him if I were to release him. 19 When examining public safety, the strength 20 of the Crown's case is relevant, as it is on the 21 tertiary ground, so I will talk about it here. 22 There is considerable evidence suggesting 23 that Ms. Lafferty's death was the result of a 24 particularly violent and vicious attack. The 25 observations made by the two witnesses who saw 26 the attack in progress, the state of the 27 deceased's body when she was found, in particular Official Court Reporters 26 1 her face, suggest that considerable force was 2 used. The autopsy results further confirm this. 3 The pathologist also noted injuries on her 4 genitalia, which is relevant to the 5 classification of this charge as first degree 6 murder. 7 It appears the central issue at this trial 8 will be identification. The evidence outlined at 9 the bail hearing suggests that the Crown appears 10 to have a strong circumstantial case on that 11 issue. 12 That case, of course, could be stronger. 13 There is no direct evidence because the two 14 witnesses who actually saw the assault did not 15 identify the attacker. There is also one element 16 of Mr. Kotchile's description of the assailant — 17 the description of the jacket worn by the 18 perpetrator — which does not correspond to the 19 observations made by the police officer when he 20 saw K.M. that morning. 21 But there are a number of other elements in 22 the evidence of identification that appear quite 23 strong. The first is that two witnesses place 24 K.M. and Ms. Lafferty together a short time 25 before the attack was reported. Miranda has them 26 leaving together in close proximity to the 27 elders' centre. The other element is that the Official Court Reporters 27 1 mickey of Smirnoff vodka given by Miranda to Ms. 2 Lafferty is similar to what the police officer 3 saw in K.M.'s pocket at the scene and which was 4 ultimately dropped and recovered. The police 5 officer who responded to the call a short time 6 after it was made saw K.M. close to the scene 7 carrying a piece of wood. The officer knew K.M. 8 from past dealings so this is not a situation of 9 someone identifying a person he or she saw then 10 for the first time. 11 Another aspect is that the two witnesses at 12 the elders' centre only saw two people in the 13 area, a man and a woman. Apart from K.M., the 14 officer saw no one else in the area when he 15 responded to the call. 16 The presence of Ms. Lafferty's DNA and of 17 K.M.'s DNA on the piece of wood believed to be a 18 murder weapon or the weapon used in the attack is 19 another element. The fact that DNA matching Ms. 20 Lafferty's profile was found on K.M.'s shoe and 21 on his belt is another element. 22 Another element is that blood found at the 23 Bourassa-Kelly residence matches Ms. Lafferty's 24 DNA profile. I did not talk about this in my 25 summary of the allegations, but the potential 26 significance of the presence of Ms. Lafferty's 27 blood in that residence is that this is where Official Court Reporters 28 1 K.M. had gone earlier in the evening to see his 2 girlfriend L.T., and the Crown will argue that it 3 makes sense for K.M. to have gone back to that 4 residence after the attack. 5 There is other circumstantial evidence that 6 may be presented to the trier of fact. I say 7 "may" because the admissibility of some of that 8 evidence is in issue and has not yet been 9 decided. But the utterances reportedly made by 10 D.K. asking K.M. why he had blood all over him 11 when he came home that morning, and comments to 12 similar effect she is alleged to have made to 13 Aurora McNeely, if admitted into evidence, would 14 add to the circumstantial evidence available to 15 the Crown. 16 Some of K.M.'s conduct, like running away 17 from the police, or denying in his conversation 18 with Louisa Lafferty that he left with her 19 daughter that morning, may be argued to be 20 after-the-fact conduct suggestive of his guilt; 21 although, as always, with that type of evidence 22 the trier of fact would have to examine that 23 evidence very carefully and determine whether 24 there is another rational explanation for it 25 before using it as evidence of actual guilt. As 26 far as fleeing from the police, for example, the 27 fact that he was in breach of his undertaking Official Court Reporters 29 1 would be an alternative explanation for him not 2 wanting the officer to speak to him. 3 Another element of evidence the Crown points 4 to is that the injuries K.M. had on his hands, 5 more specifically his palms, at the time of his 6 arrest are, the Crown will argue, consistent with 7 him having held the wooden board to strike the 8 victim repeatedly. 9 A bail hearing is not the time to make 10 findings of facts or engage in weighing of 11 evidence. Because the rules of evidence are very 12 relaxed at this stage, there is always a need for 13 caution because a case may appear much stronger 14 when allegations are simply read or included as 15 hearsay in an affidavit than they actually will 16 be once the evidence is tested. Here, some of 17 this evidence has been tested through the 18 preliminary hearing. Some other evidence, such 19 as the time the emergency calls came in to the 20 police, the time when the first police officer 21 attended the scene, observations made during the 22 autopsy, is not subject to the same frailties 23 that other types of evidence might be. 24 When a bail hearing proceeds after a 25 preliminary hearing, it is sometimes pointed out 26 that frailties in the evidence that were not 27 apparent upon first review of the disclosure were Official Court Reporters 30 1 unveiled by the preliminary hearing. In this 2 case, I did not hear any submissions along those 3 lines. 4 I take into account as well that this does 5 not appear to be a case where the Crown's case on 6 identification is dependent on only one source. 7 Many of the components of the circumstantial 8 evidence on identification that I have been 9 referring to in the last few minutes, are 10 independent from one another. 11 All that being said, the allegations must 12 still be treated as allegations, as opposed to 13 proven facts. But having regard to the specific 14 evidence that the Crown plans to present to 15 support these allegations, at this stage it does 16 appear the Crown's case is strong. 17 In fact at the bail hearing, defence 18 counsel, in his usual fair and realistic fashion, 19 acknowledged that there were live issues with 20 respect to public safety in this case. Defence's 21 position is that the proposed release plan, 22 however, addresses those concerns, particularly 23 because it would have K.M.'s parents effectively 24 act as his jail guards if the proposed conditions 25 are put in place. K.M. could not go anywhere 26 without them. He would be under their constant 27 supervision, which presumably would prevent him Official Court Reporters 31 1 from being a threat to anyone. Defence counsel 2 noted that when K.M. was on conditions 3 previously, while he did live with his parents, 4 they were not named as sureties and as such did 5 not have any legal responsibility to monitor his 6 compliance with his conditions. Defence says 7 that this is an important difference because in 8 the proposed release plan here, they would take 9 on that legal role and that legal responsibility, 10 and they are prepared to sign a recognizance in 11 the amount of $5,000, without deposit, to 12 guarantee that they will carry out those 13 responsibilities. This, defence counsel argues, 14 can address any public safety concerns that arise 15 because K.M.'s parents would be able to call the 16 police and report him immediately if he does 17 anything in breach of his conditions, including 18 consuming alcohol or not respecting his house 19 arrest condition. 20 In theory, of course, this type of plan may 21 address public safety concerns. But in practice, 22 in the circumstances of this case, I have grave 23 concerns about K.M.'s parents' ability to 24 exercise any real control over him, whether they 25 are named as sureties or not. I accept that they 26 are supportive of him. I take into account the 27 positive comments in the presentence report Official Court Reporters 32 1 prepared in relation to the November 2013 matter 2 about the level of family support and other 3 things about K.M.'s background that are in his 4 favour. But there are many causes for concern in 5 this case in basing the release plan on the 6 premise that (a) his parents can truly control 7 him and (b) that they would contact the 8 authorities if K.M. starts to not comply with the 9 conditions. 10 The first concern is K.M.'s age. He was 11 under 18 when he was charged but he is now an 12 adult. 13 The second concern stems from what I would 14 characterize perhaps as a tendency by his parents 15 to minimize K.M.'s actions. I do not doubt that 16 the intention is to be supportive, but that type 17 of support does not necessarily bode well as far 18 as their proposed role as sureties and 19 supervisors of K.M.'s actions. This tendency to 20 minimize emerges from the presentence report. In 21 my view, it also came through in some ways in 22 C.K.'s evidence. He did not seem to think his 23 son has a problem with alcohol, this even though 24 he himself acknowledged that K.M., facing serious 25 charges after his arrest for the November 2013 26 offence, did not consistently comply with his no 27 drinking condition. Official Court Reporters 33 1 Another example is C.K.'s evidence about the 2 empty liquor bottles in his son's room at a time 3 when he was on conditions not to drink. C.K. 4 said he thought K.M. had these empties because he 5 was recycling. That seems a bit farfetched and, 6 in my view, demonstrates an unwillingness to see 7 the obvious, or to admit that K.M. was in fact 8 breaching the terms of his release at that time. 9 There are also disturbing aspects of the 10 evidence as far as entrusting K.M.'s supervision 11 and enforcement of a release order to his 12 parents. I mean no disrespect to either of them, 13 as it is clear they are trying to help their son, 14 but there are aspects of what I heard that makes 15 me question to what extent they can be trusted to 16 be the court's eyes and ears as far as monitoring 17 their son's behaviour. For example, it is very 18 disturbing that C.K., knowing that K.M. was on 19 conditions not to have any contact with L.T. 20 last July, attended the jail with her with the 21 purpose of visiting his son. He was present when 22 she attempted to pass for K.M.'s cousin. C.K. 23 was at best complacent, and at worse complicit, 24 in conduct that would have the result of a court 25 order being breached. That is a concern. 26 C.K. also acknowledges that K.M. did breach 27 the no alcohol condition from the November 2013 Official Court Reporters 34 1 undertaking from time to time and just came home 2 to "sleep it off". Although C.K. testified he 3 told his son to obey the conditions, it does not 4 appear that he did anything meaningful to ensure 5 that K.M. did comply with his conditions or that 6 he took any actions when he knew K.M. was not 7 following these conditions. 8 Defence counsel properly noted that C.K. 9 was not a surety on the process that K.M. was 10 placed on in November 2013. It is true that he 11 did not have a surety's legal obligations to do 12 something if his son breached his conditions, but 13 his son was not an adult at the time, was facing 14 serious charges, and was living under his roof. 15 I have serious concerns about C.K.'s ability 16 to exercise any real control over his son. 17 As for D.K.'s ability to exercise such 18 control, I have really no evidence that would 19 suggest that she can. 20 Another area of concern is that, in 21 cross-examination, C.K. acknowledged that he told 22 the police when they were investigating this 23 matter that he, C.K., had been home all night and 24 that he knew that his son had also been home all 25 night and that he checked on him during the 26 night. C.K. acknowledged during his 27 cross-examination that he may have gone out at Official Court Reporters 35 1 some point of the night to get some gasoline, and 2 he also acknowledged that this is different from 3 what he told the police. 4 On the whole, I see two fundamental 5 weaknesses in this release plan. The first is 6 that, as is the case with all release plans, its 7 success in addressing public safety concerns 8 depends on K.M.'s compliance with terms and 9 conditions that this court would place on his 10 release. Based on his poor compliance with the 11 undertaking he signed in November 2013, I do not 12 have confidence that he would respect the very 13 restrictive conditions that are being suggested 14 here. I am not satisfied he would respect the 15 house arrest condition, and I am not satisfied he 16 would stay away from alcohol. And if he decided 17 to go out without one of his parents to go 18 drinking for example, I am not satisfied that 19 they could or would do anything to stop him. 20 The second weakness ties into the first. 21 For the reasons that I have already mentioned, I 22 am not confident that K.M.'s parents would be in 23 a position to control his behaviour. 24 I am also not confident that if he failed to 25 comply with their directions or with some of his 26 conditions that they would actually report this 27 to the authority, knowing that it would result in Official Court Reporters 36 1 their son being taken back into custody. 2 Considering the level of violence alleged 3 here, the circumstances of the offence K.M. was 4 convicted for in the past, considering his 5 failure to comply with earlier conditions placed 6 on him by the court, and considering the 7 weaknesses that I have identified in the release 8 plan, I conclude there are very, very serious 9 public safety concerns here. I am satisfied, on 10 a balance of probabilities, that K.M.'s detention 11 is necessary for the protection and safety of the 12 public, and I am also satisfied on a balance of 13 probabilities that no condition or combination of 14 conditions would offer adequate protection to the 15 public from the risk that K.M. presents. 16 There is another step in the analysis, which 17 is whether K.M. could be released into the care 18 of a responsible adult instead of being detained. 19 Before I deal with that I want to address the 20 tertiary ground. 21 It is not strictly necessary for me to deal 22 with the tertiary ground, given my conclusion 23 about the secondary ground, but I want to make it 24 clear that even if public safety concerns could 25 be addressed through a set of strict release 26 conditions, in my view this is one of the very 27 rare situations where K.M.'s detention would Official Court Reporters 37 1 nonetheless be required on the tertiary ground. 2 In my view, there are exceptional circumstances 3 here that warrant detention, and detention is 4 necessary to maintain confidence in the 5 administration of justice. 6 The analysis of this ground requires taking 7 into consideration the overarching principles 8 that are set out at section 3 of the YCJA, as 9 well as four things: the strength of the 10 prosecution's case; the circumstances surrounding 11 the commission of the offence, including whether 12 a firearm was used; the gravity of the offence; 13 and the potential lengthy custodial sentence, if 14 convicted. 15 As counsel noted, whenever bail is sought in 16 a murder case, the accused person is always 17 subject to a lengthy custodial sentence if 18 convicted, and the offence is always a serious 19 one, so those two factors are always present. 20 The law is clear that bail is available for all 21 charges, including murder, so seriousness of the 22 alleged offence and the possibility of a lengthy 23 jail term cannot justify detention on their own. 24 There needs to be something more. Here, in my 25 view, there is something more. I have already 26 talked about the apparent strength of the Crown's 27 case so I will not repeat what I already said, Official Court Reporters 38 1 but I think there is something more in the 2 circumstances of the alleged offence. 3 As I have said already, the YCJA uses in the 4 tertiary ground a word that does not appear in 5 the Criminal Code in describing that ground. The 6 word "exceptional" is there. During the hearing 7 I had a discussion with counsel about what that 8 might mean. 9 I agree with the general principles outlined 10 by the Ontario Court of Appeal in R. v. D.(R.), 11 2010 ONCA 899, as far as the guiding principles 12 that apply to tertiary ground matters in the 13 context of a young person. In my view, the use 14 of this word "exceptional" circumstances 15 reinforces the even more exceptional nature of 16 detention of a young person based on this ground 17 because, as we know, the tertiary ground, even 18 for adults, is not a ground that is to be used 19 frequently or easily or in routine cases to 20 justify detention, but that is even more the case 21 when we are dealing with youths and that is my 22 interpretation of why the words "exceptional 23 circumstances" appear in the provision. 24 The circumstances here, in my view, are 25 exceptional and are of a nature that would shake 26 the public's confidence in the justice system if 27 K.M. were to be released. Sadly, violence is Official Court Reporters 39 1 prevalent in our communities, but the level of 2 violence alleged in this case is well outside the 3 norm of what we normally see. This was a 4 prolonged, apparently unprovoked and extremely 5 violent attack. The victim's face was beaten 6 beyond recognition. In addition to the sheer 7 violence of the attack, there is strong evidence 8 of a sexual component to the assault. There is 9 evidence through the eyewitnesses of highly 10 contemptuous behaviour, being the perpetrator 11 having urinated on Ms. Lafferty after her clothes 12 were removed. This would be a terrible event 13 anywhere, but the impact of such an event in our 14 small northern communities is immense. In a 15 community the size of Fort Good Hope, it is not 16 difficult to imagine the incredible impact an 17 event like this would have on the community. 18 This too must be taken into account in assessing 19 what can and cannot maintain the public's 20 confidence in the administration of justice. 21 When considering whether detention is 22 required to maintain confidence in the 23 administration of justice, courts are required to 24 attempt to gauge the perception of reasonable 25 members of the community, that is, people who do 26 understand the fundamental principles of the law 27 — things such as the presumption of innocence; Official Court Reporters 40 1 the right to bail; the fact that people who do 2 not have a lot of money are more subject to being 3 detained before trial than people with means 4 because often they cannot put up money as 5 guarantees; the fact that people who are detained 6 pending their trial, especially on serious cases, 7 may be in custody for a long time. The 8 reasonable member of the community we try to 9 imagine is someone who is aware of those things. 10 In R. v. C.(B), 2011 ONSC 5241, at paragraph 11 13, Justice Ducharme offered a list of things 12 that the reasonable member of the community would 13 be aware of in assessing whether someone should 14 be released on bail and whether their confidence 15 would be shaken if a person were to be released. 16 I am not going to read the list here, but I find 17 those examples quite useful in attempting to 18 picture what this reasonable member of the 19 community would know and think. When I try to 20 imagine reasonable people in the community, 21 including people aware of all those various 22 things that Justice Ducharme talked about, and 23 aware of all the circumstances, I do not think 24 such a person would be able to still have 25 confidence in the administration of justice if 26 K.M. was released from custody pending his trial. 27 I say this having given careful consideration to Official Court Reporters 41 1 the overarching principles set out at section 3 2 of the YCJA and reminded myself many times that 3 this ground for detention is to be resorted to 4 very sparingly when dealing with youths, as noted 5 by the Ontario Court of Appeal in R. v. D.(R.), 6 2010 ONCA 899. But in my view, this is one of 7 those cases where it is required. 8 For the same reasons I do not think the 9 conditions proposed under the release plan 10 adequately address the public safety concerns 11 that arise in this case, I am satisfied, on a 12 balance of probabilities, that no condition or 13 combination of conditions would suffice to 14 maintain the public's confidence in the 15 administration of justice given the overall 16 circumstances in this case. For that reason, I 17 conclude that detention is justified on the 18 tertiary ground as well. 19 Having so concluded, the last step in the 20 analysis I must engage in is to consider whether, 21 rather than ordering K.M.'s detention, I should 22 order that he be placed in the care of a 23 responsible adult, in this case his father, 24 pursuant to section 31 of the Act. This is a 25 potential outcome that is unique to the YCJA. It 26 applies to all the grounds of detention, as 27 confirmed in the R. v. D.(R.) case. I have Official Court Reporters 42 1 already referred to the criteria that must be met 2 in order for the court to be able to do this. In 3 this case, the key to me is whether the 4 responsible adult would be able to control the 5 young person. For the many reasons I have 6 already mentioned, I am not satisfied that C.K. 7 can control his son. I say this again because 8 K.M. is now an adult, because he was living with 9 his parents when he got into trouble before and 10 was living with his parents when he was on 11 conditions that he appears to have breached 12 frequently. I do not doubt that C.K. and his 13 wife sincerely want to help their son, but I am 14 not satisfied that placing him in their care, 15 pursuant to section 31 of the Act, is appropriate 16 or an outcome that is available under the 17 circumstances. In considering this matter, I 18 have taken into consideration the specific 19 principles that apply pursuant to the YCJA. 20 I have carefully reviewed the recent 21 decision of R. v. M.G., Youth Justice Court of 22 the Northwest Territories, September 18, 2013, 23 #Y-1-YO-2013-000129, where Judge Malakoe came to 24 the conclusion that a youth charged with second 25 degree murder could be released. I agree with 26 everything Judge Malakoe said in that decision 27 about the governing principles that apply in Official Court Reporters 43 1 these matters, more specifically at pages 53 to 2 55 of that decision, but, in my view, that case 3 must be distinguished from this one. It was a 4 serious case obviously, because someone died and 5 a weapon was used, but the allegations, as they 6 are reflected in the decision at least, do not 7 involve a prolonged beating or a level of 8 violence anywhere near to what is alleged in this 9 case. The young person in that case was not on 10 process at the time of the events that led to her 11 charge. The judge made specific mention that 12 there was no evidence that she had a record for 13 not following conditions or for violence. There 14 were indications that she had had issues with 15 alcohol. The evidence presented was that when on 16 occasion when those problems surfaced, her 17 parents did turn to the police, and that is 18 another thing that the judge noted. So I think 19 that there are very significant differences 20 between the two cases which, in my view, justify 21 a different outcome. 22 Having reviewed the cases that were provided 23 by the Crown, although clearly pre-trial 24 detention is consistently described as an 25 exception and not the norm especially when 26 dealing with young persons, it is also clear that 27 from time to time there are circumstances where Official Court Reporters 44 1 even young persons must be detained before their 2 trial. This case, in my view, represents one of 3 those situations. 4 I want to make it clear that I have not 5 overlooked the fact that since the bail hearing 6 proceeded, the trial date has been set and it is 7 a long ways away. I realize that. But still, 8 having considered all the evidence before me, I 9 conclude that the Crown has met its onus and has 10 established that the continued detention of K.M. 11 is necessary. 12 .............................. 13 14 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript pursuant 15 to Rule 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules of Court. 16 17 ______________________________ 18 Annette Wright, CSR(A) Court Reporter 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 45
You are being directed to the most recent version of the statute which may not be the version considered at the time of the judgment.