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R v Ratt
Two Rounds Into the Ceiling
The facts
The Accused was inside a one-storey house with several other people, holding a shotgun. Someone knocked at the front door. He loaded the shotgun, pointed it at the door and shouted to ask who was there, but did not fire. A man came in, and the Accused told him he had almost shot him through the door. He then fired a round into the ceiling near the front door. The complainant began crying and said she wanted to leave; he told her she was weak and could not go, and fired a second round into the ceiling. He then forced her into a bedroom. He faced a series of charges including using a firearm while committing an indictable offence, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon and breach of a prohibition order. This case is about one count only: discharging a firearm into or at a place. The evidence was that both rounds went up into the attic - a space where nobody could reasonably be expected to be. The Crown said firing a loaded shotgun twice inside an occupied house is exactly what the section forbids. The Defence said the section requires the gun to be fired from one place into or at a different place, and that firing into the ceiling of the room you are standing in does not qualify.
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Every case in GUILTY or NOT? Canada is a genuine published decision. This library carries the facts and the citation for cases that have already appeared in the game, so you can look them up, cite them, or read the judgment in full. The verdict stays in the game. Browse all cases.