The court ruled he wasn’t denied a fair trial because he couldn’t prove the existence of a video he claimed the Crown failed to disclose.
A former far-right Saskatchewan political party leader with a prior criminal history of hate crimes and assault has lost his latest appeal at the province’s highest court.
He appealed his conviction and sentence, arguing he was denied a fair trial because the Crown didn’t disclose a cellphone video that, according to Patron, was taken by one of the victims during the incident on July 30, 2023.
Court heard Patron followed an interracial couple around Saskatoon’s Midtown Mall, repeatedly asking the man — an off-duty RCMP officer Patron knew from a previous court case — “Why are you walking around with our women if you weren’t born in Canada?”
Patron, who led the Canadian Nationalist Party before it was deregistered in 2022, claimed he had “lawful authority” to confront the couple because they were disrespecting “Canadian nationalism” by being together in a public place.
In his notice of appeal, he argued that the Crown’s failure to disclose the video “impeded his ability to make full answer and defence,” and resulted in an excessive sentence.
“The evidence does not support his contention that the video in question exists. Furthermore, he has not explained what he believes it might show or how that would have assisted him to make full answer and defence at trial,” Justice Neal Caldwell wrote, with Justices Robert Leurer and Georgina Jackson agreeing.
During the Sept. 6 appeal hearing, the Crown denied that it or police ever had a recording taken by the off-duty officer, which Patron alleged. He argued that its existence was mentioned in police reports.
“(The Crown’s trial lawyer) acknowledged, however, that the disclosure materials did refer to a video having been received from the complainant, and she advised that there had been some confusion about who had taken the video that the complainant’s companion had recorded. The trial judge accepted that explanation, which was supported by the testimony of the complainant’s companion, who said that the complainant had provided the police with the videos she had taken on her phone,” Caldwell wrote.
He noted that Patron did not cross-examine the man, his girlfriend or any other Crown witness about the existence of a video.
The appeal judges also dismissed the sentence appeal, finding the length was appropriate.
“Most notably in terms of moral culpability, the trial judge found that Mr. Patron’s offences had been motivated by prejudice or hate for a racial group, which is an aggravating factor (under the Criminal Code), that he has a prior conviction for promoting hatred, and that he shows no willingness ‘to change his racist thoughts.’ ”
Patron remains in custody pending two jury trials in November and December on outstanding charges of impersonating a peace officer and criminal harassment from separate incidents in the summer of 2023.
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