Welcome to Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! This week, lawyer Kyla Lee discusses the defence of provocation.
Acumen Law Corporation lawyer Kyla Lee gives her take on a made-in-Canada court case each week and discusses why these cases should have been heard by Canada’s highest court: the Supreme Court of Canada.
Mr. Simard was charged with second-degree murder. There is a provision of the Criminal Code that allows a person charged with murder to argue that they should be convicted of manslaughter by providing evidence to show that they committed the crime in the heat of passion. This is essentially known as the defence of provocation.
Mr. Simard was trying to raise this defence but unfortunately encountered a procedural hurdle. The offence that was considered the provocation, wasn’t punishable for 5 years or more as an indictable offence which was a requirement for it to be considered am element of the provocation defence.
Watch the video for more.