Summary

Keywords

Criminal law - Criminal law - Manslaughter - Criminal negligence causing death - Naturopath charged with manslaughter of patient and with causing patient’s death by criminal negligence - Patient dying as result of endotoxic shock caused by bacterium in substance injected into him by naturopath during treatment - Whether ss. 234 and 236 of Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C 46, infringe rights guaranteed by ss. 6, 7 and 15 of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, if so, whether infringements justified under s. 1 of Charter - Whether Court of Appeal made legal errors.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In June 2008, Roger Matern consulted the appellant, Mitra Javanmardi, a naturopath. Ms. Javanmardi administered an intraveous injection treatment. Mr. Matern died not long after the treatment. Ms. Javanmardi was charged, in connection with his death, with criminal negligence causing death and manslaughter.

The Court of Québec found on the basis of the evidence that the cause of Mr. Matern’s death was the injection administered by Ms. Javanmardi. But it acquitted her on both counts on the basis that, amoung other things, Ms. Javanmardi’s conduct had not involved a marked departure and her actions had not been objectively dangerous.

The Court of Appeal was of the opinion that errors of law had been made at trial. It found that all the essential elements of the offence of manslaughter had been established beyond a reasonable doubt and found Ms. Javanmardi guilty on that count. As for the count of criminal negligence, it found that a reassessment of the whole of the evidence was necessary and ordered a new trial for that purpose.