2 total
Renewed application to recall witnesses for victim character evidence denied.
During a murder trial, counsel for one co-accused renewed an application to recall two witnesses to testify about the deceased's general reputation for violence and aggression, arguing that the evidentiary basis had changed since both co-accused had now testified.
The court had previously permitted specific Scopelliti evidence of the deceased's prior acts of weaponized intimidation but denied broader character evidence.
The court found that the law and reasons from its prior ruling continued to apply and denied the renewed request, noting that unlike the other co-accused who had established an air of reality for self-defence, the moving co-accused had not satisfied that threshold.
Crown's motion to admit hearsay evidence of prior discreditable conduct denied due to frail identification.
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.
