Supreme Court Case Study - R. v. Latimer

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Supreme Court Case Assignment

(R. v. Latimer)

Abhit Sahota                18/10/2012                CLU3M1-01

Part 1: Case Citation

R. v. Latimer (2001) SCC 1 S.C.R. 3

Part 2: Case Synopsis

This was a controversial case that concerned the issue of a mercy killing or assisted suicide. The decision of the case would ignite an ethical battle across Canada due to it’s sensitive nature. Robert Latimer, Saskatchewan resident was convicted of murdering his disabled daughter, Tracy Latimer.

The 12 year old girl was diagnosed with cerebral palsy from birth, and had severe physical and mental disabilities. She went through several surgeries  in order to improve her state of living, but Mr. and Mrs. found many of these medical devices and surgeries as “cruel” and “intrusive”. Mr. Latimer had the view that his daughter’s life was greatly restricted, subsequently he poisoned his daughter with carbon monoxide. He admitted to the murder to the authorities, and was convicted of second degree murder.

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At his first trial in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, Mr. Latimer was found guilty of his charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He had made appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. It was accepted and the SCC invalidated the previous conviction due to the Crown’s improper actions during the jury selection which came into light after the appeal court trial. The appeal had been filed to argue that they had not legally arrested him, but the court ordered a new trial after information about the authorities questioning and picking the jury members based upon their moral ...

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