A man convicted of holding up a Prince George bank will not be sentenced for the act because his case took too long to prosecute.
In reaching his decision for Neil Robert Simpson, Prince George provincial court judge Randall Callan found the time taken was well above the thresholds established by the Supreme Court of Canada in its landmark R v. Jordan decision and its predecessor, R v. Morin.
Simpson was arrested in December 2013, a few days after an armed robbery at the Spruceland branch of Scotiabank. Over the eight months that followed, Simpson's case went through the justice system "with all deliberate speed," Callan said.
But two weeks before the trial was to start, Crown prosecution entered stays on the charges and Simpson was released from jail. Then, in January 2015, prosecution was restarted, meaning the whole intake procedure had to be carried out for a second time.
The process of finding appropriate dates for trial took 7 1/2 months and in turn, 21 days were set aside beginning in May 2016.
Although the time was used effectively - a series of admissions helped shorten its length - the trial was not completed until May 2017.
Less nine months worth of delay attributed to defence counsel Brian Gilson and Callan's lack of availabiity and the process still took 20 months had passed, which Callan found is too long from the perspective of Morin.
Looking at the standard set under Jordan, which the SCC issued in July 2016, and when the trial had heard from all but one witness, Callan calculated 34 months had passed from the time the case was stayed to the day the verdict was reached.
The total was after two months of delay attributed to himself and four months attributed to Gilson because of a commitment to a murder trial was taken into account.
Even if he were to go against court precedent and not count the time between the stay and the renewal and Callan found the total still stood at 28 months, well above the threshold of 18 months for cases going through provincial court under Jordan.
In reaching his decision under Morin, Callan said he took into account the seriousness of the offence.
"Although the evidence is the robbery only took two minutes, or less, there was a lasting emotional impact on some of the members of the bank staff," Callan said. "There were two witnesses in particular who were having difficulty at times recounting their evidence as they are still shaken by what occurred during the robbery."
But Callan also had to consider whether the time taken meant Simpson suffered prejudice. Noting Simpson is also serving a sentence for two bank robberies carried out in Burnaby in September 2014, Callan said the frequent trips from the Lower Mainland to Prince George has meant he has been unable to complete his release plan and has had very limited access to educational programs.
"He states in the affidavit, 'I am unlikely to be in a position to fulfil my parole eligibility obligations and my release date of June 2019 is not likely to occur,'" Callan said.
Callan issued his decision on June 16, two days after finding Simpson guilty of the charges.
