SELECTED CASE LAW
ONTARIO:
2013 ONSC 7792 involved a police officer who unlawfully accessed her former partner’s email and Facebook accounts and sent malicious messages to another woman. Ms. C had been intimately involved with both the woman with the compromised account and with the message recipient. C had also been previously charged with assaulting her former partner.
C compromised her victim’s online accounts by correctly guessing password reset security questions. The malicious messages were sent from an IP address associated with C. At trial, C argued that someone else used her wireless network to send the offending emails. She also raised the alibi defence that she was out of the house when the emails were sent. The Court rejected these arguments and found C guilty.
On appeal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered whether fresh evidence from a computer forensic expert could be admitted one year after sentencing. C argued that someone on her wireless network could have sent the offending messages from the compromised account. She sought to have expert evidence admitted which stated that her wireless router could be compromised from a greater distance. The Court concluded that the fresh evidence would not have affected the outcome of the initial trial and dismissed C’s application.
Criminal Offence(s): Identity Fraud