COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
CITATION: R. v. Robertson, 2023 ONCA 326
DATE: 20230505
DOCKET: COA-23-CR-0169
Fairburn A.C.J.O., MacPherson and Zarnett JJ.A.
BETWEEN
His Majesty the King
Respondent
and
Kraig Robertson
Appellant
Kraig Robertson, acting in person
Amy Ohler, appearing as duty counsel
Nicholas Hay, for the respondent
Heard and released orally: May 1, 2023
On appeal from the sentence imposed by Justice Angela L. McLeod of the Ontario Court of Justice on June 27, 2022.
REASONS FOR DECISION
[1] The appellant was convicted of failing to remain at the scene of an accident, knowing or being reckless as to whether the accident resulted in death. This is an appeal from sentence.
[2] The Crown concedes that the sentencing judge erred in the imposition of an 18-month period of probation to follow the term of custody. She gave no reasons for exceeding the trial Crown’s position of a 12-month term of probation. We accept the Crown concession on this issue.
[3] The Crown also concedes that the sentencing judge failed to take into account the length of the appellant’s driving prohibition that preceded his sentencing. The parties are in agreement that the appellant was prohibited from driving for 20 months and 21 days prior to his sentence being imposed. Therefore, the parties agree that this period of time should be removed from the 5-year driving prohibition that was ultimately imposed. In the circumstances, we accept the Crown concession.
[4] Finally, the appellant argues that the 5-year driving prohibition, even with the credit removed, is still too high. We disagree. We see no error in the sentencing reasons as to why she imposed this length of driving prohibition. We note that there are significant aggravating factors at work in this case. Combined, they entirely justify the sentence imposed.
[5] The sentence appeal is allowed.
[6] The probation order is varied from 18 months to 12 months.
[7] A period of 20 months and 21 days will be credited to the driving prohibition.
[8] The appeal is otherwise dismissed.
“Fairburn A.C.J.O.”
“J.C. MacPherson J.A.”
“B. Zarnett J.A.”