Ryan Clements

In the 19th & 20th century this building was the Clements & Sons general store in Port Medway, NS. My grandfather, pictured, was one of nearly a dozen kids (the “sons” and daughters). He went on to fight in a war, have a family and become a judge. I still wear his tabs in court.

2023 SKCA 123: no implied licence to walk up a driveway on private property to investigate parked vehicle (running, lights on, & accused in driver's sea) by knocking on window & opening door. Police investigating complaint of speeding & possible impairment canlii.org/en/sk/skca/doc…

2023 SKCA 105: loaded firearm excluded under 24(2) b/c officers, in carrying out an unlawful detention, placed undue weight on suspect’s known gang affiliation & the nature of the neighbourhood, despite absence of particularized involvement in criminality canlii.org/en/sk/skca/doc…

2023 ABCA 345: Justice Martin critical of the Crown’s charging decision in this case, noting that it was “not in keeping with our general obligation to minimize the exposure of Indigenous people to penal consequences, particularly for non-violent offences” canlii.org/en/ab/abca/doc…

2023 MBCA 85: defence counsel’s submissions to jury about “me too” - “we live in dangerous times. An environment of blame” & “anyone who is unhappy…claim they too have been abused” - were inappropriate, without foundation, and might distort fact-finding canlii.org/en/mb/mbca/doc…

2023 NSCA 84: “astonishing” & “disturbing”, new trial ordered b/c judge - who made intemperate in-court comments showing reasonable apprehension of bias - tried to delete the comments from the record and to prevent the court of appeal from considering them canlii.org/en/ns/nsca/doc…

2023 NLCA 35: there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in interior of one’s vehicle that extends to any integral component of vehicle, including the Airbag Control Module, a computer that stores data about speed within 5 seconds of airbag deployment canlii.org/en/nl/nlca/doc…

2023 SCC 30: Where grounds for arrest are based on evidence that is later found to have been unlawfully obtained, courts must excise this evidence from factual matrix in order to determine whether the police had reasonable and probable grounds for arrest canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/…

"I can’t say enough for what he’s meant to my career." Retiring defence lawyer Peter Harte was hailed by colleagues for his impact on the profession in the NWT. cabinradio.ca/158970/news/ye…

Job alert 🚨: amazing criminal law opportunity in Yellowknife, w/ travel across region. Meaningful, interesting work. Wonderful colleagues. Vibrant community. Northern lights & midnight sun. No better place to train. Once did this so DM with any questions gov.nt.ca/careers/en/job…

2023 SKCA 107: murder conviction overturned due to ineffective assistance of counsel who, b/c he summarily dismissed his own client's account of self-defence, failed to advise him about the defence, including consequence of not testifying in support of it canlii.org/en/sk/skca/doc…

2023 SKCA 109: intoxication can lead people to make choices they would not have made if they were sober - and to have no memory of it - and this must be considered when evaluating "proclivity evidence", testimony that complainant "would not have consented" canlii.org/en/sk/skca/doc…

Cross Country Noteup - Criminal Appeals from July/August 2023 canliiconnects.org/en/commentarie…

2023 YKCA 8:LEAF denied leave to intervene on whether jury should be able to consider, in support of mistake of age defence, evidence unknown to accused relating to complainant’s maturity that might corroborate his own observations of her level of maturity canlii.org/en/yk/ykca/doc…

2023 NSCA 58: Derrick JA, for maj., upholds conditional sentence for incest, noting that Bill C-5 intended to address “systemic anti-Black racism and the well-documented over-incarceration of racialized offenders”. Dissent: penitentiary sentence required. canlii.org/en/ns/nsca/doc…

2023 ONCA 526: judge wrongly rejected witness' testimony that drugs in car were his b/c he hadn’t told police this before testifying. But this was a “sensible choice" given protections against self-incrimination & not inconsistent w/ desire to help accused canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc…

@LegalTakes Whatever the background, it can never be a good thing when your lawyer - who is supposed to assist with a criminal contempt matter - tells the court “I’m a complete neophyte in criminal court. It’s been 40 years.” (para 38).

@RyanHClements The guy he hired solely for his penchance to be an anti-"gender-activist" throwing mud at the court and process got him a bad outcome. Choices made with eyes wide open ought have consequences.

2023 BCCA 319: ineffective assistance due to counsel’s failure to realize that 👑’s offer was "extremely good" & that “advantage of certainty” from joint submission was important here b/c judge warned of ⬆️ sentence if not constrained by a joint submission canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc…

@LegalTakes He did not get do-over. He merely got the deal the Crown had initially offered - 45 days jail and probation - but that he had not accepted due to the bad advice from his lawyer at the time.

@RyanHClements This is terrible decision even by BC standards. A vexatious litigant who deliberately sought out a vexatious lawyer has just been given a do-over because he got exactly the lawyer he sought. At least it's from the BCCA so it won't be followed anywhere else.

2023 NWTCA 5: 👑 leave denied. The 90-day mandatory minimum for 151(b) sexual interference is so clearly unconstitutional that it cannot be reasonably argued otherwise. Note the CJ of Alberta all but overturns 2022 ABQB 197, currently binding in Alberta. decisia.lexum.com/nwtcourts-cour…