On September 19, 2017, a fist fight occurred between Jules Jobidon and Rodney Haggart in a parking lot outside a bar near Sudbury, Ontario. The two men initiated their aggression inside the bar of a hotel. Haggart was celebrating his impending marriage with a few friends. He approached Jobidon, who was in the bar with his brother. They started to argue over some trivial thing. Haggart was larger and had previous training as a boxer. In this first encounter, after Haggart pushed Jobidon, the owner of the hotel separated the combatants and told Jobidon and his brother to leave the hotel. Jobidon and Haggart exchanged angry words in the lobby, and the two men agreed the fight was not over.

Jobidon and his brother waited outside in the parking lot. When the Haggart party exited the hotel, a crowd of people came along to see the fight. Haggart and Jobidon stood facing each other. Jobidon struck Haggart with his fist, hitting him with great force on the head and face. Haggart was knocked backward onto the hood of a car. At that point, Haggart's fiance arrived and broke up the fight. In 2019, the police learned of these events and sent the file to the Crown attorney.

Relevant Provisions

The offence of assault is set out in sections 265 and 266 of the Criminal Code.

265 (1) A person commits an assault when

(a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to

that other person, directly or indirectly;

(b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or a gesture, to apply force to

another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on

reasonable grounds that he has, present ability to effect his purpose; or

(c) while openly wearing or carrying a weapon or an imitation thereof, he

accosts or impedes another person or begs.

(2) This section applies to all forms of assault, including sexual assault, sexual

assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or causing bodily harm and

aggravated sexual assault.

(3) For the purposes of this section, no consent is obtained where the

complainant submits or does not resist by reason of

(a) the application of force to the complainant or to a person other than

the complainant;

(b) threats or fear of the application of force to the complainant or to a

person other than the complainant;

(c) fraud; or

(d) the exercise of authority.

266 Every one who commits an assault is guilty of

(a) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not

exceeding five years; or

(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

You are the Crown attorney assigned to prosecute this case. With what offense will you charge Jobidon? Will you proceed summarily or by indictment? Describe at least two factors will be important to your decision?