Emanuel Lozada v. His Majesty the King and Victor Ramos v. His Majesty the King

The appellants, Emanuel Lozada and Victor Ramos, were both charged with manslaughter. They, along with one another male, were involved in two fights, the second of which resulted in the fatal stabbing of the victim. At trial, the Crown argued that the appellants were liable as co-principals or as aiders or abettors of the stabber. A jury found both appellants guilty of manslaughter.

The appellants appealed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario, alleging, among other grounds, that the trial judge erred in his jury instruction on the law of causation regarding co-principal liability. The majority dismissed the appeal, finding that the jury instructions, read as a whole, accurately reflected the law of causation as it applied to the appellants. In dissent however, Justice Paciocco would have allowed the appeal, would have quashed the conviction, and ordered a new trial.

He concluded that the trial judge had misdirected the jury by understating the standard of “reasonable foreseeability” that the jury could use in deciding whether the appellant’s unlawful act amounted to a “significant contributing cause” of the victim’s death.

Mr. Lozada and Mr. Ramos both appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada as of right.