Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Criminal law Offences Elements of the offence Uttering threats Mens rea requirement Whether the Court of Appeal erred in assessing the mens rea requirement for the offence of uttering threats Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the evidence of the complainant was the determinative factor in the analysis of the mens rea requirement for uttering threats Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C 46, s. 264.1(1)(a).

The respondent was acquitted on two counts of uttering threats and two counts of breach of probation. While incarcerated, he threatened by telephone to kill his girlfriend if she aborted their child. The complaint was made by the staff of the correctional centre. When called to testify, the girlfriend explained that the respondent’s words did not cause her any fear and that he was just being loud and belligerent with her. The Crown appealed the acquittals on two grounds. First, it argued that in her assessment of the mens rea of the offence, the trial judge erred by relying exclusively on the girlfriend’s evidence. In the Crown’s view, the trial judge ought to have looked at whether a reasonable person, thinking objectively, would have considered the words to be a threat. Second, the Crown argued that in the absence of testimony from an accused, the question of whether he had the intention to intimidate will usually be determined by the words used, the context in which they were used and the person to whom they were directed. The Crown submitted that the trial judge failed to do so in this case. The majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Steel J.A., dissenting, would have allowed the appeal on the basis that the trial judge erred with respect to the legal effects of the girlfriend’s evidence as it related to the mens rea requirement for uttering threats.