CSR | June 2017 | News
NEWS BRIEF
unforeseen or unavoidable mat-
ters beyond its control and these
created exceptional circum-
stances that should prevent a
stay of the charges, as established
in the recent Supreme Court of
Canada decision of R. v. Jordan.
The Crown also argued that since
this trial involved a corporate ac-
cused, the standard for assessing
a delay of trail didn't apply.
The court found that this
wasn't a particularly complex
case, as it involved a "single cor-
porate accused charged with a
single count relating to a single
discrete event taking place on
one day." The only issue to be
examined was the mechanical
fitness of the articulated boom
lift that Stephenson's leased and
there were no complicated legal
issues, the court said.
The court also found that
Crown didn't take any positive
steps to fix the disclosure issues
that had been plaguing the pro-
ceedings, even after the delay
surpassed the reasonable expect-
ed ceiling of 19 months for trial.
The court recognized that
the Crown had been caught
off-guard by the large file of
documents its expert witness
mentioned during testimony,
but noted that the witness had
been retained two years earlier
and the Crown should have re-
searched him more to learn of
the file. Once the file's existence
was discovered, there was no op-
tion but to disclose it to the de-
fence for review, said the court.
"This unfortunate develop-
ment in the midst of a case that
had already experienced inor-
dinate delay ought not to have
been unforeseen and was totally
avoidable through the applica-
tion of even a modest amount
of foresight and planning," the
court said. "It is not a discrete
event that excuses delay but
rather the opposite, a misstep by
the Crown that aggravated it."
The court also found that the
expert's eye surgery that caused
a delay wasn't an emergency and
it could have been easily avoided
if the Crown had kept the wit-
ness informed of trail dates.
The court determined that
the right of Stephenson's under
the charter to be tried within a
reasonable amount of time was
breached. As a result, it ordered
the charge against the company
to be stayed.
"Even with an extended intake
period of six months and attrib-
uting another six months for the
defence to prepare, the trial it-
self would still have started with
18 months of delay, pushing past
Morin guidelines even in a case
more complex than this," said
the court.
For more information see:
• R v. Stephenson's Rental
Services (March 17, 2017), St.
Catherines 2111-999-12-3702-
00 (Ont. C. J.).
R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27
(S.C.C.).
Company < pg. 5
Exxon < pg. 1
Some delays were avoidable
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from the precipitator nearly struck
alkylation unit settler tanks contain-
ing toxic hydrofl uoric acid, which can
be deadly at 30 parts per million.
The CSB has asked a federal court to
enforce subpoenas against Exxon so
the board can read information the
company withheld about steps taken
to prevent hydrofl uoric acid releases
or to mitigate them.
"We are confi dent that we under-
stand the cause of the Feb. 18 inci-
dent and have worked cooperatively
with the Chemical Safety Board and
staff to fully understand their fi nd-
ings and recommendations to im-
prove the safety of our operations. In
terms of safety, Exxon Mobil meets or
exceeds accepted industry practices
and has stringent safety measures in
place to mitigate risks associated
with the modifi ed hydrofl uoric acid
alkylation process," Exxon Mobil said
in a statement.
California residents have pushed
local and state leaders to ban the
use of hydrofl uoric acid in the state's
refi neries.
