Brittany Jean Butler

The Crown applied to introduce prior discreditable conduct of the accused, Felicity Altiman, in a second-degree murder trial.

The conduct involved threatening to stab a third party and brandishing a knife.

The court applied the four-part test for admitting such evidence, focusing on the probative value versus prejudicial effect.

The court allowed evidence of the accused possessing and brandishing a knife but excluded evidence of the specific threats made due to moral prejudice.

Additionally, evidence of the accused admitting to regularly robbing the deceased was conceded as admissible.

This criminal trial concerned charges of two counts of assault, two counts of mischief under, and one count of breach of undertaking against the accused, arising from incidents with his common-law spouse.

The court found the complainant's testimony to be evasive, overly dramatic, and unreliable, while the accused's evidence was deemed credible and raised a reasonable doubt regarding the assault and mischief charges.

The court concluded that the complainant's provocative conduct initiated the events leading to the mischief charges and that she, rather than the accused, was at the heart of the family's dysfunction.

Consequently, the accused was acquitted of all assault and mischief charges.

He had previously pleaded guilty to the breach of undertaking, for which his blameworthiness was considered low.