R. v. Ford, 2000 CanLII 5701 (ON CA)
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[34] A plea of guilty is an admission of the facts in issue and a waiver of strict proof of the charge. In a number of pre-Charter cases, courts have held that such a plea may be used against an accused person at a subsequent criminal or civil trial: (références omises)
[35] The appellant submits that this rule must be re-evaluated in light of s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The appellant's contention is that the admission of a guilty plea in subsequent criminal proceedings infringes the protection of a broadened notion of self-incrimination (beyond testimonial
compulsion) anchored in the principles of fundamental justice in s. 7 of the Charter.
[36] I do not agree with this submission. Absent evidence to the contrary, a plea of guilty must be assumed to be voluntary and informed: see R. v. T. (R.) 1992 CanLII 2834 (ON CA), (1992), 10 O.R. (3d) 514 (C.A.). Once such a plea is made, the conviction which is entered is part of the public record. It works no injustice on the accused to permit the guilty plea and conviction to be admitted as evidence of the truth of the facts for which they stand at a subsequent criminal trial: see R.v. Duong (T.D.) 1998 CanLII 7124 (ON CA), (1998), 108 O.A.C. 378. It remains open to the accused to challenge or explain the previous conviction if he so desires. No challenge or explanation was made in this case.
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