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Abstract: Transcript of the Decision (re: Bail Application)
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R. v. Lori Roberta Hansen, 2015 NWTSC 40 S-1-CR-2015-000068 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - and - LORI ROBERTA HANSEN Transcript of the Decision delivered (re: Bail Application) by The Honourable Justice L. A. Charbonneau, in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on July 6, 2015. APPEARANCES: Mr. M. Lecorre: Counsel on behalf of the Crown Mr. C. Davison: Counsel on behalf of the Accused ------------------------------------- Charge under s. 235(1) C.C. Ban on Publication of evidence, information given and representations made at Bail Hearing pursuant to Section 517 of the Criminal Code 1 THE COURT: As counsel have noted at the 2 outset, even though this is not a contested bail 3 application, it is still, ultimately, the Court's 4 responsibility to ensure that any concerns 5 regarding Ms. Hansen's release have been 6 adequately addressed through the release plan. 7 The Crown has taken a fair position as far 8 as acknowledging that there are triable issues in 9 this case, and acknowledging the lack of criminal 10 record. 11 Bearing in mind the general principles that 12 govern bail, including the presumption of 13 innocence and the right of every person charged 14 with an offence not to be denied reasonable bail, 15 I agree that the detailed release plan that is 16 being proposed, which includes sureties and very 17 detailed conditions, is adequate to meet the 18 requirements to ensure that Ms. Hansen will 19 attend court; that there will be no risk to the 20 safety of the public stemming from her release; 21 and that her detention is also not required on 22 the tertiary ground. 23 I am going to release you, Ms. Hansen, on 24 these conditions that have been talked about. 25 You heard the Crown read them. I know you are 26 aware of them. When you are asked to sign the 27 recognizance, it will be written down. The clerk Official Court Reporters 1 1 will go over them with you so I am not going to 2 repeat them all here now. It is very important 3 that you comply with them of course. 4 THE ACCUSED: Yes. 5 THE COURT: I know you understand you are 6 facing a serious charge and it could take a while 7 before it makes its way through the system. As 8 long as you comply with these conditions, you 9 will be able to remain at large, not in custody. 10 You can pursue your efforts if you want to try to 11 get employment and if you want to try to access 12 treatment. 13 If you are ever not sure about something to 14 do with your release conditions, try to get a 15 hold of Mr. Davison and do not hesitate to seek 16 his advice if you are confused about something or 17 not sure if you are permitted or not permitted to 18 do something. 19 You have your two sureties. Their role is 20 to help you, to remind you of your conditions and 21 to make sure you comply with those conditions. 22 By agreeing to be your surety, they are agreeing 23 to be sort of the eyes of the Court. And what 24 that means is that if you do not follow the 25 conditions, they are going to have to tell the 26 police about it which, I am sure, for both of 27 them would be a very difficult phone call to Official Court Reporters 2 1 make. That is the responsibility they are both 2 agreeing to take by signing on as surety for you. 3 They trust that you will comply with your 4 conditions. 5 THE ACCUSED: I will. 6 THE COURT: They are pledging amounts of 7 money that I know are large amounts of money. So 8 at this point it is really up to you to make sure 9 that you do not let the Court down and you do not 10 let them down. 11 THE ACCUSED: I won't. 12 THE COURT: Do you understand? 13 THE ACCUSED: I understand. Thank you. 14 THE COURT: I have the list here, Mr. 15 Clerk, of the conditions that were read earlier 16 in this hearing. I will give that back to you so 17 that they can be written. I think you will have 18 to write them again just to add the ones that we 19 now need to add following our discussion. 20 I think the best place to add the condition 21 to take into account the possibility of road 22 closures due to the forest fires would be after 23 number 7, because 6 and 7 talk about the back and 24 forth between Hay River and Fort Resolution. So 25 after condition 7, condition number 8 will be "in 26 the event that you are unable to travel to Fort 27 Resolution because of road closures, you will: Official Court Reporters 3 1 (a) Continue to reside at your mother's 2 residence; 3 (b) Advise the RCMP in Hay River that you have 4 had to remain in Hay River; 5 (c) Advise your sister Patricia Alexandra Hansen 6 of the situation. 7 Was that the three things you mentioned? 8 MR. DAVISON: I had suggested that there 9 should be a term specifically requiring that 10 Patricia Alexandra Hansen be given a copy of the 11 recognizance just to make sure she has a copy of 12 the list of conditions. 13 THE COURT: Yes. I am going to make that 14 direction but I am not going to include it in the 15 recognizance because that is not something that 16 Ms. Hansen is promising to do, it is just 17 something I am directing. 18 MR. DAVISON: Okay. 19 THE COURT: So those three things. And 20 then: 21 (d) Should the road reopen, notify the RCMP in 22 Hay River that you are departing. 23 I think that works. So that's the new 8(a), 24 (b), (c), and (d), Mr. Clerk, that you will not 25 have written on this document. The rest of the 26 numbers will change accordingly. 27 Not in the recognizance but as part of the Official Court Reporters 4 1 clerk's notes, it should reflect that I am 2 directing that Patricia Alexandra Hansen be 3 provided a copy of the recognizance and 4 conditions after it has been signed. 5 Now, who is able to make sure that the clerk 6 has the contact information for Patricia 7 Alexandra? 8 MR. DAVISON: I can certainly get it and 9 pass it on to Mr. Clerk. 10 THE COURT: All right. 11 MR. DAVISON: I believe it's effectively the 12 same as Jeanette Mandeville and Lori Hansen in 13 Hay River, but I'll get it and make sure of that. 14 THE COURT: It does not really matter how 15 this is done, but it would be important that she 16 get a copy of this so that she knows what she is 17 essentially, without being a surety, what role 18 she has in all of this. 19 And the other difference, Mr. Clerk, as you 20 heard the Crown say, that the first name that 21 appears on the second last line of the condition 22 that deals with the no contact with the 23 witnesses, that name should not appear. 24 You have heard the names of the people you 25 are not to have contact with, Ms. Hansen. Again 26 I do not propose to read them to you, but they 27 will all be listed on the conditions. Mr. Official Court Reporters 5 1 Lecorre read them out loud. 2 THE ACCUSED: Yes. 3 THE COURT: You know who these people are, 4 right? 5 THE ACCUSED: I don't know all of them. 6 THE COURT: You don't know all of them? 7 THE ACCUSED: There are people I don't know 8 on this list. 9 THE COURT: Okay. If by some sort of 10 coincidence you realize you are in contact with 11 one of them -- 12 THE ACCUSED: Yeah. 13 THE COURT: -- then you just need to 14 remove yourself from the situation. And if 15 something like that, it is very unlikely that it 16 will happen, but I would suggest if something 17 like that did happen, whether it is at a store or 18 on the street or whatever, and you realize that 19 you have now had contact with one of these 20 people, I would strongly suggest that you make 21 your lawyer aware of that right away so that 22 people know that it was not a deliberate thing 23 and so at least he is aware and he is prepared to 24 talk to the Crown about it. 25 THE ACCUSED: Okay. 26 THE COURT: Understand? 27 THE ACCUSED: Yes. Official Court Reporters 6 1 THE COURT: Mr. Clerk, I am going to give 2 this back to you. 3 THE COURT CLERK: Thank you, Your Honour. 4 THE COURT: There is nothing further to do 5 on this application. I do not know where the 6 proceedings are in the Territorial Court but that 7 is not something that I need to get involved 8 with. 9 Is there anything further that is required 10 on this? 11 MR. LECORRE: No. Just for Mr. Clerk's 12 benefit, condition 13 will now read "you must 13 continue to abide by terms 10 and 11" instead of 14 "9 and 10" because the numbering changed. I just 15 wanted to make Mr. Clerk aware of that. Other 16 than that, nothing further from the Crown. 17 THE COURT: All right. Perhaps what we 18 could do, Mr. Clerk, is once you have typed out 19 all of this -- it is going to take a little bit 20 of delay, Ms. Hansen, before you are actually 21 released because this has to be prepared. If 22 counsel expect to be reachable today I would 23 suggest that Mr. Clerk send you each the revised 24 conditions so that we take care of any problems 25 with them before Ms. Hansen actually signs them. 26 Are you around? 27 MR. DAVISON: I am. But what I was going to Official Court Reporters 7 1 propose to make Mr. Clerk's job a little bit 2 easier is that I can send him an e-mail with all 3 of this in electronic form and then he's not 4 having to start from scratch. He can then add 5 the conditions and change the conditions that 6 need to be changed, send them back to my friend 7 and myself, we'll make sure that they accord with 8 our notes and then we can go from there. That 9 will save him having to type out two pages. 10 THE COURT: All right. You could even 11 maybe change the two numbers that Mr. Lecorre has 12 referred to and let him add in the new numbering. 13 So Mr. Clerk, you will be getting that from 14 Mr. Davison. Please send it in draft form to 15 counsel. All I am trying to avoid here is the 16 need for organizing a further court appearance to 17 fix any problems that made its way into the 18 document. 19 Thank you, counsel. 20 Ms. Hansen, as soon as the document is ready 21 and as soon as you can sign it and your sureties 22 can sign it, then you will be released. 23 THE ACCUSED: Thank you very much. 24 .............................. 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 8 1 2 3 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript pursuant 4 to Rule 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules of Court. 5 6 ______________________________ Annette Wright 7 Court Reporter 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 9
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