The Case of Shirley, and the Sentence that Surprised

In a trial in the BC Provincial Court, Shirley was convicted of possession of an

amount of methamphetamine, for the purpose of trafficking (selling for cash).
When it came time to impose a sentence, the Provincial Court judge had to decide
whether this was an appropriate case to impose a fine, or a term of imprisonment.

The prosecutor referred the judge to a decision in the Supreme Court of Canada in
R. v. Smith, where the court held that in cases of the trafficking of hard drugs like
methamphetamine, a prison sentence should be imposed.

Shirley’s defence lawyer asked the judge to consider an earlier decision of the BC
Court of Appeal in R. v. Jones, which upheld a sentence of a fine in a case similar
to Shirley’s.

In his decision in Shirley’s case, the Provincial Court judge stated that the Smith
case was wrongly decided and so he refused to follow it. He imposed a sentence of
a fine on Shirley.

The Crown appealed the Provincial Court judge’s sentencing decision to the BC
Court of Appeal, arguing that a term of imprisonment should have been imposed.

Discuss, and decide, whether the Crown will be successful in its appeal. Give
reasons for your answer, referring to the relevant legal principles.