In a pre-trial motion for a murder trial, the Crown sought to introduce hearsay evidence from the deceased victim's wife regarding a 2013 robbery allegedly committed by the accused.
The court applied the principled exception to hearsay and the test for prior discreditable conduct.
The court found the identification evidence for the 2013 robbery was frail, failing to meet threshold reliability.
Furthermore, the prejudicial effect of admitting the unproven prior robbery and a related newspaper article outweighed its probative value.
The Crown's motion to introduce the evidence was denied.
