R. V. Latimer - Background

Background

The Supreme Court described the background this way: Robert Latimer's daughter, Tracy Latimer, was 12-years-old and had cerebral palsy. As a result, she was quadriplegic, could not speak, and had the mental abilities of an infant. However, she was not dying of her disability. It was also believed that a feeding tube could help her health, but her parents believed such a medical device would be "intrusive." Thus, numerous surgeries were performed, and after the scheduling of another surgery in 1993, Mr. Latimer, who viewed the upcoming operation as also being cruel, "formed the view that his daughter's life was not worth living." Mr. Latimer thus poisoned his daughter with carbon monoxide. When the police made the discovery, Mr. Latimer denied responsibility but later admitted that he had killed her. He was convicted of second degree murder, but in R. v. Latimer (1997) the Supreme Court overturned that finding due to the Crown's improper actions at the jury selection stage.

In the subsequent second trial, Mr. Latimer was again convicted of second degree murder, but he was sentenced to only one year in prison rather than the minimum ten under the Criminal Code of Canada, since in the circumstances of the case 10 years was viewed as cruel and unusual. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal later increased the sentence to 10 years. Mr. Latimer eventually appealed the case to the Supreme Court, arguing not only that the sentence was too long but also that the trial was unfair because the judge decided the defence of necessity could not be argued even though this decision came only after the defence had argued it. It was also claimed that the judge had misled the jury into thinking that they could influence the length of the sentence. Since many in the jury wished for a lighter sentence than that prescribed by the Criminal Code, it has been argued that the jury might have resorted to jury nullification had they known that they could not decide the length of the sentence.