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Self Defence: New Case From Ontario

The Ontario Court of Appeal just released their reasons in a case called R. v. Cunha 2016 ONCA 191.

Mr. Cunha was charged with aggravated assault and discharging a firearm with intent to wound after he shot a man who had invaded his home with another man….who happened to be carrying a shotgun! The man Mr. Cunha had shot was unarmed but Mr. Cunha had no way of knowing that when he began shooting. Remarkably, the trial judge hearing the case had convicted Mr. Cunha of both offences after finding that self defence did not excuse Mr. Cunha’s action of shooting one of the intruders.

The Ontario Court of Appeal overruled the trial judge and said that the judge had made serious legal errors. Mr. Cunha was justified in fearing for his life considering one of the intruders had a shotgun.

Specifically they said this:

This was plainly a case for the court to keep in mind that in considering the reasonableness of the defendant’s use of defensive force, the court must be alive to the fact that people in stressful and dangerous situations do not have time for subtle reflection. However, the trial judge held the appellant to a standard of perfection.

After ordering that the errors should technically lead to a new trial, the court took the unusual step of explicitly suggesting to the Crown that they use their discretion and not continue with the prosecution. The court rarely makes these suggestions to the Crown and it shows the court strongly believed that Mr. Cunha was on the right side of the law when he decided to shoot one of the intruders.

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