Case information
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35690
Her Majesty the Queen v. Sebastien Bouchard
(Ontario) (Criminal) (As of Right)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2014-11-10 | Transcript received, 60 pages | |
| 2014-10-20 | Appeal closed | |
| 2014-10-17 | Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties | |
| 2014-10-17 | Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties | |
| 2014-10-16 |
Judgment on the appeal rendered, Abe Cro Mo Wa Ga, The appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C53244, 2013 ONCA 791, dated December 31, 2013, was heard on October 16, 2014, and the Court on that day delivered the following judgment orally: CROMWELL J. ? This Crown appeal comes to us as of right based on the dissent of Rouleau J.A. in the Court of Appeal for Ontario. We agree with Doherty J.A., writing for a majority of that Court, that the trial judge’s instructions may well have led the jury to understand that the deceased’s allegedly provocative acts and the respondent’s reaction to them had relevance to the mens rea issue only if they met the narrow legal definition of provocation in s. 232 of the Criminal Code and that this constituted misdirection. We therefore dismiss the appeal and affirm the Court of Appeal’s order for a new trial. Dismissed |
|
| 2014-10-16 | Respondent's condensed book, (Book Form), 14 copies (submitted in Court) | Sebastien Bouchard |
| 2014-10-16 | Appellant's condensed book, (Book Form), 14 copies (submitted in Court) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-10-16 |
Hearing of the appeal, 2014-10-16, Abe Cro Mo Wa Ga Decision rendered |
|
| 2014-09-25 | Notice of appearance, Benita Wassenaar will be present | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-09-08 | Notice of appearance, Howard L. Krongold will be appearing for the Respondent at the hearing. | Sebastien Bouchard |
| 2014-09-05 | Notice of hearing sent to parties | |
| 2014-09-05 |
Appeal hearing scheduled, 2014-10-16 Decision rendered |
|
| 2014-06-04 | Appeal perfected for hearing | |
| 2014-06-02 | Respondent's book of authorities, (Book Form), Completed on: 2014-06-02 | Sebastien Bouchard |
| 2014-06-02 | Respondent's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2014-06-03, (Electronic version filed on 2014-06-03) | Sebastien Bouchard |
| 2014-04-08 | Appellant's book of authorities, Completed on: 2014-04-08 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-04-08 | Certificate of counsel (attesting to record) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-04-08 | Appellant's record, (13 volumes), Completed on: 2014-04-08 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-04-08 | Appellant's factum, Completed on: 2014-04-08 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-01-17 | Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right) | |
| 2014-01-14 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), (Electronic version filed on 2014-01-14) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2014-01-14 | Notice of appeal, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2014-01-14, (Electronic version filed on 2014-01-14) | Her Majesty the Queen |
Parties
Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.
Main parties
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Her Majesty the Queen | Appellant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bouchard, Sebastien | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: Her Majesty the Queen
Counsel
720 Bay Street
10th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2S9
Telephone: (416) 326-4191
FAX: (416) 326-4656
Agent
441 MacLaren Street
Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 2H3
Telephone: (613) 236-9665
FAX: (613) 235-4430
Email: rhouston@burkerobertson.com
Party: Bouchard, Sebastien
Counsel
Howard L. Krongold
116 Lisgar Street, Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0C2
Telephone: (613) 235-9779
FAX: (613) 235-8317
Email: howard@agpllp.ca
Agent
2600 - 160 Elgin St
Box 466 Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: brian.crane@gowlingwlg.com
Summary
Keywords
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Summary
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 - Defences - Provocation - Charge to the jury - Whether the trial judge misdirected the jury as to the application of the statutory defence of provocation to the evidence relevant to the respondent’s state of mind for the purpose of determining whether the Crown had established the requisite intent for murder.
The respondent, Mr. Bouchard, was convicted of second degree murder. At trial, he admitted assaulting the victim thereby causing his death. He testified that the victim gave him a wet kiss and said “I love you”, that those actions brought back disturbing memories of being sexually assaulted by a babysitter when he was young, and that he just “lost it”, threw the victim to the ground and stomped on him several times. Both individuals were heavily intoxicated at the time of the assault. Mr. Bouchard argued at trial that he should be convicted of manslaughter, not murder, because the Crown could not prove the required intent for murder, or because he had been provoked within the meaning of s. 232 of the Criminal Code. A majority of the Court of Appeal allowed Mr. Bouchard’s appeal from conviction and ordered a new trial. In its view, the trial judge erred by telling the jury that the narrow statutory definition of provocation applied in assessing the impact of the victim’s allegedly provocative conduct on Mr. Bouchard’s state of mind for the purpose of determining whether the Crown had established the requisite intent for murder. Rouleau J.A., dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal.
Lower court rulings
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Respondent convicted of second degree murder
Court of Appeal for Ontario
C53244, 2013 ONCA 791
Appeal allowed; new trial ordered
Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal
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Factums on appeal
The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.
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