The Crown applied to qualify a translator as an expert to provide opinion evidence interpreting intercepted Farsi audio recordings into English in a criminal prosecution.
The defence challenged the proposed expert’s qualifications and alleged potential bias arising from his role assisting police investigators.
Applying the admissibility test for expert opinion evidence from R. v. Mohan, the court found the translator possessed sufficient proficiency in both Farsi and English and had relevant training and experience conducting translations for police wiretap investigations.
The court rejected the allegation of bias and concluded the translation evidence was necessary for the jury to understand the intercepted communications.
The translator was therefore qualified to provide expert opinion evidence interpreting the Farsi recordings.
