2023 QCCA 1005, 2023 QCCA 1005

Gordon Gray c. R. 2023 QCCA 1005 COURT OF APPEAL CANADA PROVINCE OF QUEBEC REGISTRY OF MONTREAL No.: 500-10-007718-214 ( 500-01-127712-153 ) MINUTES OF HEARING DATE: August 8, 2023 THE HONOURABLE STEPHEN W. HAMILTON, J.A.

APPELLANT COUNSEL PAUL EVANS GORDON GRAY Mtre MARIE-HÉLÈNE GIROUX ( Me Marie-Hélène Giroux Avocats ) By videoconference RESPONDENT COUNSEL HIS MAJESTY THE KING Mtre MARIE-EVE MAYER ( Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions ) By videoconference DESCRIPTION: Motion for authorization to produce a brief exceeding thirty pages. (Section 38 of the Rules of the Court of Appeal of Quebec in Criminal matters ) Clerk at the hearing : Chloé Côté-Sauvageau Courtroom: RC-18 HEARING 9:24 Commencement of the hearing. Identification of the file and counsel. Preliminary question by the Judge and answer by Mtre Giroux.

The respondent does not contest the motion of the appellant to produce a brief exceeding 30 pages (s. 38 R.C.A.Q.C.M. ) if obtaining the same privilege. 9:25 BY THE JUDGE: Judgment – see page 3. Conclusion of the hearing.

Chloé Côté-Sauvageau, Clerk at the hearing JUDGMENT [ 1 ] The Appellant seeks permission to file a 40-page argument. [ 2 ] The Appellant was charged with second-degree murder and threatening to use a weapon in committing an assault. He was acquitted twice, and each time the Court ordered a new trial.

On December 22, 2021, following his third trial which lasted six weeks, he was convicted by a jury of the lesser offences of manslaughter and assault. [ 3 ] The Appellant raises several issues in the appeal: the conduct of the prosecutor, notably during his closing argument; the sufficiency of the corrective instructions given by the judge to the jury; the admissibility of hearsay evidence contained in the questions put by the police during the Appellant’s interrogation; the judge’s failure to give a Soobrian limiting instruction; and the judge’s decision to dismiss the Appellant’s motion to require the Crown to call specific witnesses. [ 4 ] He produced as an exhibit a draft argument of 37 pages.

The Crown does not contest the motion and asks to be authorized to file an argument of the same length. [ 5 ] Although it is exceptional for a judge of the Court to allow a party to file an argument that exceeds 30 pages, I am satisfied, based on the legal issues raised, the factual complexities of this case (particularly because some of the grounds of appeal refer to events occurring in the first two trials) and my review of the draft argument, that it is appropriate to do so in this case.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE UNDERSIGNED: [ 6 ] GRANTS the Appellant’s motion for authorization to file an argument that exceeds 30 pages; [ 7 ] AUTHORIZES the Appellant and the Respondent to file briefs which do not exceed 40 pages. STEPHEN W. HAMILTON, J.A.