Canada Case Law

R. v. Dunkley

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The motion judge did not err in admitting limited gang evidence after properly balancing probative value against prejudicial effect; severance and exclusion of another trial's verdict did not produce a miscarriage of justice; and the evidence admitted was sufficient that a properly instructed jury could reasonably convict, therefore the appeal is dismissed and the conviction is upheld.

Source excerpt

• Gang evidence
• Motive and animus
• Bad character evidence
• Severance
• Expert evidence
• Unreasonable verdict

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R. v. Alkhalil

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court admitted a deceased witness’s ante mortem statements and a related text message, largely for narrative and state-of-mind purposes, and two statements for their truth.

• Ante mortem statements
• Principled approach to hearsay
• State of mind and present intention
• Narrative/context evidence
• Necessity and reliability
• Motive and animus

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R. v. Sanghera

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court admitted prior-event evidence as background and context, finding it relevant to motive, animus, and the narrative of the firearms charges, subject to limits against propensity reasoning.

• Admissibility of contextual/background evidence
• Narrative evidence
• Propensity/character evidence
• Motive and animus
• Forensic linkage of firearms
• Evidence-admissibility

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R. v. Abdul

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The appeal was dismissed because the reviewing judge correctly found that the pathologist's evidence supported a non-culpable explanation for the death, there was no evidence of deliberate fire-setting or motive, and the circumstantial evidence amounted only to speculation and suspicion insufficient to justify committal for trial.

Source excerpt

• Committal for trial
• Circumstantial evidence
• Cause of death
• Motive and animus
• Review of committal decision

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R. v. Atwal

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Voir dire ruling on the admissibility of the deceased’s statements in a second-degree murder trial, admitting some hearsay evidence and excluding other statements as remote or prejudicial.

• Principled exception to hearsay
• Necessity
• Threshold reliability
• Similar fact evidence
• Motive and animus
• Probative vs prejudicial

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