Azoulay v. The Queen

-! bgcolor="6699FF" | Case opinions
-|"Azoulay v. The Queen", [1952] 2 S.C.R. 495 was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on abortion in Canada. The Court found that with evidence so complicated, a judge should summarize it to a jury.

Background

Dr. Leon Azoulay was accused of murder after one of his patients died. This woman, described by Justice Estey as "Mrs. P.", had allegedly received an abortion from Dr. Azoulay which wound up causing a fatal haemorrhage. An autopsy revealed evidence of an abortion.

At trial, the judge spoke about the law under which Dr. Azoulay was charged, and told the jury that if they found Dr. Azoulay guilty, there must be evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. He also declined to summarize the facts of the case, saying that they "have been well elaborated by the Defence and the Crown." [Page 503.] Dr. Azoulay was found guilty of manslaughter. Quebec's court of appeal upheld the conviction, albeit with the Chief Justice dissenting that the trial judge's discussion with the jury was inadequate.

Decision

The Supreme Court overturned the trial. Justice Taschereau wrote an opinion saying he could imagine that there was sufficient evidence to convict Dr. Azoulay. However, he agreed with the dissenting Chief Justice in the lower court that the trial judge "failed to instruct properly the jury, in omitting to review the evidence." [Page 497.] Taschereau pointed to "Spencer v. Alaska Parkers" (1905) to say precedent had been established that judges should help guide the jury in giving "value and effect" to certain pieces of evidence. [Pages 497-498.] Thus, needless details were not discarded, and the jury was "left in a state of confusion." [Page 499.]

Justice Estey, in his opinion, wrote that the evidence in this case was "technical and somewhat involved," and that made it all the more necessary that a judge should help summarize the facts and distinguish important evidence from needless details. In particular, he found that the defence arguments were not adequately presented. [Pages 503-504.]

Dissent

Two dissents were written by Justices Rand and Fauteax. Rand wrote that the defence was not actually complex, and the facts were generally accepted. For a judge to summarize the defence's arguments would have been redundant after a simple point had been repeated and explored many times. [Page 500.]

Justice Fauteux wrote that if the trial judge had summarized the expert testimony, this would work against rather than favour the defence's case.

ee also

*List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Richards Court through Fauteux Court)
*Morgentaler v. The Queen
*R. v. Morgentaler
*Tremblay v. Daigle
*R. v. Morgentaler (1993)

References

External links

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