Aidan Macnab interviewed Dean Embry, of Embry Dann, who was the court-appointed amicus curiae on the Nettleton matter, regarding the more recent case of R. v. Hason from Ontario’s Court of Appeal.

Here is the May 14, 2024 Law Times piece:

https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/criminal/psychiatrists-careless-expert-evidence-leads-to-new-sentencing-for-dangerous-offender-ont-ca/386102

In Hason, the Court of Appeal has ordered a return of the case to reconsider the indeterminate sentence of a Dangerous Offender, citing the unreliable nature of the expert evidence in this regard given by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Scott Woodside, as found by the Trial Judge in the earlier case of R. v. Nettleton.

Here is a link to the Hason Judgment on the Court of Appeal’s Decisions page:

https://coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/item/22347/index.do

The phrase “careless practice” appears approximately 35 times in this Judgment.

This is how the Judgment begins:

On appeal from the conviction entered on September 30, 2015 and the designation as a dangerous offender and the sentence imposed on December 11, 2017 by Justice William A. Gorewich of the Ontario Court of Justice.

Tulloch C.J.O.:

A.           Overview

[1]             Unreliable expert evidence is a serious concern for the justice system. As report after report have demonstrated, such evidence may result in miscarriages of justice that can impose severe and unjustified consequences on accused persons. These risks can sometimes exist even in cases involving highly experienced expert witnesses. While all justice system participants have a responsibility to guard against these risks, judges are the last line of defence. By carefully scrutinizing expert evidence and issuing decisions concerning its admissibility and weight, they alert everyone in the justice system to concerning red flags regarding particular experts. It is incumbent on all of us to take those red flags seriously to prevent a repeat of past miscarriages of justice involving unreliable expert evidence.

In a related article, accused are now facing delays in DO assessments, as a result of the fall-out of these cases. For example, in Barrie, May 21st 2024 news coverage suggests this here:

https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/crown-s-efforts-to-have-clearview-township-man-deemed-a-dangerous-offender-stalled-1.6894993