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Voir dire ruling admitting most of the Crown’s discreditable conduct evidence in a first-degree murder case, subject to limits, cautionary instructions, and possible reconsideration at trial.
Appeal from a sexual assault conviction dismissed. The Court held the trial judge properly assessed credibility, considered the defence inferences, and used text messages within permissible evidentiary limits.
The Court upheld the convictions because the trial judge reasonably concluded, on the totality of circumstantial evidence, that the only reasonable inference was that the appellant had placed the drugs in the upstairs bathroom and thus constructive possession and possession for trafficking were proven; there was no established misapprehension or reversal of burden; the uncertified photocopy of the recognizance was admissible under the common law public/judicial documents exception given corroborating evidence and lack of substantive authenticity challenge, so any procedural unfairness in admi…
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The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed a sexual assault appeal, holding the trial judge wrongly relied on a prior consistent statement and ordered a new trial.
The court excluded a mother's account of a complainant's early-morning disclosure as a prior consistent statement, finding the timeline evidence contradicted her recollection.
The court admitted a psychiatrist’s certified clinical notes as business records under s. 42 of the Evidence Act and allowed related testimony, including a possible admission against interest.
The court admitted only cellphone identification excerpts from a redacted extraction report, excluding trafficking messages and drug photographs as prejudicial and too remote.
Majority held the trial judge did not err: the deceased's antemortem statements and the appellant's text messages were admissible (met hearsay exception/threshold reliability and their probative value outweighed any prejudice), and the trial judge reasonably applied sentencing principles including recognizing breach of trust and the intimate relationship as aggravating factors; 15 years parole ineligibility was within the broad range for second‑degree murder and not demonstrably unfit; a single judge dissented on sentence, preferring 12 years due to errors in applying statutory aggravating fa…
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The Undertaking to an Officer in Charge was not proven to be a court or public document, the Crown failed to authenticate it or invoke an applicable hearsay exception, and therefore the Court cannot take judicial notice of it; the Undertaking is not admitted into evidence.
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The Court held the trial judge did not err: the cumulative circumstantial evidence (DNA on glove, cell tower location, and BBM messages whose authorship was reasonably inferred) supported identification beyond reasonable doubt; the hearsay exceptions and principles in Evans and Carter were properly applied; any judicial‑notice comment was superfluous to the dispositive reasoning; conviction appeals were dismissed; sentence appeals were allowed in part to set aside victim fine surcharges and to correct presentence custody credit for JH, otherwise sentences affirmed.
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