Case information
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39006
Randy Desmond Riley v. Her Majesty the Queen
(Nova Scotia) (Criminal) (As of Right / By Leave)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-03-19 | Appeal closed | |
| 2020-11-26 | Transcript received, 50 pages | |
| 2020-11-10 | Discontinuance of the application for leave to appeal, (Letter Form) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-11-04 | Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties | |
| 2020-11-04 | Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties | |
| 2020-11-03 |
Judgment on the appeal rendered, Ka Côt Br Mar Kas, The appeal from the judgment of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, Number CAC 475857, 2019 NSCA 94, dated December 5, 2019, was heard on November 3, 2020, and the Court on that day delivered the following judgment orally: KARAKATSANIS J. — We are all of the view that the appeal should be allowed, for the reasons of Scanlan J.A. in the Court of Appeal. The appeal is allowed, the convictions are quashed and a new trial is ordered on the charges of second degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. As a result, it is unnecessary to hear the application for leave to appeal. Allowed |
|
| 2020-11-03 |
Hearing of the appeal, 2020-11-03, Ka Côt Br Mar Kas Judgment rendered |
|
| 2020-10-29 | Respondent's condensed book, (Book Form), (Printed version filed on 2020-10-29) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-10-28 | Appellant's condensed book, (Book Form), (Printed version filed on 2020-10-28) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-10-23 | Correspondence (sent by the Court) to, appellant, by the Deputy Registrar, Re: attend hearing via Zoom | |
| 2020-10-20 | Correspondence received from, Lynn Watt, by email, Re: confirms that respondent does not object to appellant attending hearing via ZOOM | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-10-20 | Notice of appearance, (Letter Form), James A. Gumpert, Q.C. and Melanie Perry will appear before the Court on behalf of the Respondent (HMTQ). Mr. Gumpert will present oral argument at the hearing. | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-10-19 | Notice of appearance, (Letter Form), Lee V. Seshagiri and Roger A. Burrill will appear before the Court on behalf of the Appellant/Applicant (Riley). Mr. Seshagiri will present oral argument at the hearing. | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-10-15 | Supplemental document, (Letter Form), Reply to the response of the AMENDED application for leave to appeal., (Printed version filed on 2020-10-29) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-10-09 | Supplemental document, (Letter Form), Response to the AMENDED application for leave to appeal., (Printed version filed on 2020-10-09) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-09-21 | Correspondence received from, Lee V. Seshagiri, Re: request to attend Zoom hearing | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-09-11 | Supplemental document, (Book Form), AMENDED Application for Leave to Appeal, (Printed version filed on 2020-10-09) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-09-11 | Supplemental document, (Book Form), Supplemental Book of Authorities, Completed on: 2020-09-11 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-09-11 | Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), RE: Supplemental Book of Authorities and Amended Application for Leave to Appeal | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-09-02 | Notice of hearing sent to parties | |
| 2020-08-25 |
Appeal hearing scheduled, 2020-11-03, (Previously scheduled on May 22, 2020) Judgment rendered |
|
| 2020-07-14 | Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right), (by email to all parties on July 15, 2020) | |
| 2020-06-03 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), (Printed version filed on 2020-08-31) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-06-03 | Respondent's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2020-06-03, (Printed version filed on 2020-10-09) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-05-15 | Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties | |
| 2020-05-15 | Judgment on leave sent to the parties | |
| 2020-05-14 |
Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the application for leave to appeal is granted. An oral hearing of the application for leave to appeal is ordered in accordance with s. 43(1.2) of the Supreme Court Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. S-26. The oral hearing of the application for leave to appeal will be heard with the appeal as of right. The hearing date will be fixed by the Registrar. Oral hearing ordered |
|
| 2020-05-14 |
Decision on motion to extend time to file and /or serve the leave application, See decision on application Granted |
|
| 2020-04-14 | All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2020-04-14 | Submission of motion to extend time to file and/ or serve the leave application, for consideration by the Court | |
| 2020-03-31 | Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Letter Form), Applicant will not be submitting a reply., Completed on: 2020-03-31 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-31 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-03-31 | Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2020-03-31 | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-03-11 | Notice of hearing sent to parties | |
| 2020-03-02 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal | |
| 2020-03-02 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-02 | Motion to extend the time to file and or serve the application for leave to appeal, (Included in the application for leave to appeal), Completed on: 2020-03-02 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-02 | Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Amended Application for Leave to Appeal filed on September 11, 2020., Completed on: 2020-03-02 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-02 | Certificate of counsel (attesting to record), (Letter Form) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-02 | Appellant's record, (Book Form), (11 volumes), Completed on: 2020-03-02 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-02 | Appellant's book of authorities, (Book Form), Completed on: 2020-03-02 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-03-02 | Appellant's factum, (Book Form), Completed on: 2020-03-02 | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-01-23 | Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right) | |
| 2020-01-20 | Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), RE: Appeal Scheduling and delay times. | Her Majesty the Queen |
| 2020-01-09 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a notice of appeal, FILE OPENED 01/09/20 | |
| 2020-01-06 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) | Randy Desmond Riley |
| 2020-01-06 | Notice of appeal, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2020-01-06 | Randy Desmond Riley |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Riley, Randy Desmond | Appellant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Her Majesty the Queen | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: Riley, Randy Desmond
Counsel
Roger A. Burrill
400 - 5475 Spring Garden Road
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 3T2
Telephone: (902) 420-6583
FAX: (902) 420-1260
Email: lee.seshagiri@nslegalaid.ca
Agent
100 - 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: tslade@supremeadvocacy.ca
Party: Her Majesty the Queen
Counsel
Melanie Perry
700 - 1625 Grafton Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 0E8
Telephone: (902) 424-2953
FAX: (902) 424-8440
Email: james.gumpert@novascotia.ca
Agent
160 Elgin Street
Suite 2600
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 786-8695
FAX: (613) 788-3509
Email: lynne.watt@gowlingwlg.com
Summary
Keywords
Criminal law - Evidence - Jury - Vetrovec warning - Verdict - Unreasonable verdict - Curative proviso - Whether a Vetrovec warning should have been provided to the jury regarding the exculpatory evidence of a Crown witness - Whether the curative proviso, per s. 686(1)(b)(iii) of the Criminal Code should have been applied to dismiss the appeal - Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s. 686(1)(b)(iii).
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.
At trial before judge and jury, Mr. Riley was convicted of second degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. On appeal before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, Mr. Riley argued that the trial judge erred by giving a Vetrovec warning to the jury regarding one of the Crown’s witnesses and that this error was critical. A majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal as it was satisfied that if the trial judge erred by giving a Vetrovec warning, the error was harmless and it would apply the curative proviso at s. 686(1)(b)(iii) of the Criminal Code if necessary. In its view, there was no reasonable possibility that a jury could believe or have a reasonable doubt based on the witness’s evidence. Scanlan J.A. would have quashed the convictions and ordered a new trial. In his view, the trial judge erred in its Vetrovec instruction and it would be inappropriate to apply the curative proviso since the legal error was in relation to a pivotal witness. Scanlan J.A. was not convinced that the verdict would have been the same with a properly instructed jury.
Lower court rulings
Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, Trial Division
435158
Conviction by jury for second degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
2019 NSCA 94, CAC 475857
Appeal dismissed.
Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal
The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted 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 the memorandum by filing 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 memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.
Downloadable PDFs
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Related links
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.
Downloadable PDFs
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