Top judge acquits accused in moot court case

Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps (top) listens to evidence April 2 during a moot court session at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, which saw Grade 10 Inuksuk High School students playing all the roles of people in the courtroom, including the “clerk,” seen here at the bottom of the photo. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps delivered her judgment April 4 in the case of “Her Majesty the Queen versus Jessica Inuksuk,” which she heard April 2 in Iqaluit during a moot court session at the Nunavut Court of Justice.

For their moot court, with its simulated court proceedings, students from Kim Masson’s Grade 10 class at Inuksuk High School played the roles of lawyers, witnesses, courtroom staff, security officers and RCMP members.

The case considered by the court involved Jessica Inuksuk, who was accused of taking a motor vehicle, a 2006 Yamaha Phazer snowmobile, without the consent of its owner.

In her judgment, Deschamps said prosecutors had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt two elements: the first, that Inuksuk took the property and the second, that she intended to deprive the owner of her property, temporarily or permanently.

“The standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a pillar of the criminal justice system. It is one of the safeguards against wrongful convictions,” Deschamps said in her judgment. “If the judge is not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of any one of the essential elements of the offence, he or she must acquit.”

In this case, the taking of the snowmobile was not contested. Inuksuk admitted she took it.

So, the only question was whether she also had the intent to deprive Samantha Joamie of her snowmobile.

Deschamps said she was “not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt” that Inuksuk had intended “to deprive the owner of her property, temporarily or permanently.”

“Having considered the evidence of good reputation, the fact that it would have been totally illusory to think about keeping the snowmobile in a community where everyone knows each other and each other’s property, the fact that Jessica has a job, that she cares for her mother, that when she met her friend she was actually heading for the Road to Nowhere, on her way to return the snowmobile to Ms. Joamie, the court is left with a doubt as to the intent to steal.”

Dechamps said Inuksuk showed “bad judgment” on two occasions.

“But is not sufficient to prove the intent element of the offence,” she said. “For these reasons, the accused is acquitted.”