In this case, the Alberta Court of Appeal held that, in assessing whether the conduct of the accused gave rise to "endangerment" and therefore constituted a "serious personal injury offence" under the Criminal Code, the analysis focuses on the entire context in which the conduct occurred, and not only contextual factors relating to the conduct of the accused.
The respondent, while driving impaired, crashed into the complainant’s
vehicle and seriously injured the complainant. At the time of the
crash, many people were in the surrounding area and could have aided
the injured complainant. The respondent fled the scene of the accident but was
quickly apprehended by police. She was convicted of having left the scene of an accident and given a 12 month conditional sentence. Under s.752(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code, an indictable offence involving "conduct endangering or likely to endanger the life or safety of another person..." constitutes a "serious personal injury offence." Under s.742.1 of the Criminal Code, in light of amendments made in 2007, conditional sentences are not available for serious personal injury offences. Based on this statutory language, the Crown argued on appeal that the respondent was not eligible to receive a conditional sentence.
Reviewing the relevant caselaw, which revealed two conflicting streams of jurisprudence on the point, Justice Slatter held that when assessing the existence of endangerment arising from the conduct of the accused leaving the scene, it is relevant to look not only at the accused’s conduct but also at the entire context in which the conduct occurred. Here, there was a large number of other people
at the scene to aid the injured driver, so there was no
endangerment. The respondent's offence was, therefore, not a "serious personal injury offence," and the respondent was eligible to receive a conditional sentence.
July 26, 2011
Link to Decision
Sam Golder & Kai Sheffield
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