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Child witness's video statements and hearsay evidence of a fatal struggle admitted in murder trial.
The Crown brought a pre-trial motion in a first-degree murder case to admit hearsay statements and video-recorded police interviews of the deceased's eight-year-old daughter.
The child witnessed a struggle between the accused and her mother, during which she heard her mother say 'let me go' and the accused reply 'wait, wait, wait, wait'.
The court ruled the mother's statement admissible as a res gestae spontaneous utterance and under the principled exception to the hearsay rule.
The accused's statement was admitted as a party admission.
The court also admitted the child's video statements under s. 715.1 of the Criminal Code, subject to editing, and granted testimonial aids including testimony via closed-circuit television with a support person and support dog.
Forensic pathologist's expert evidence on cause of death admitted; defence allegations of bias rejected.
The accused is charged with first-degree murder of his former intimate partner.
The Crown sought to admit the expert opinion evidence of a forensic pathologist regarding the cause of death, which included neck compression.
The defence opposed the admission, arguing the expert was biased, inflexible, and failed to consider alternative causes for petechiae, such as coughing.
The court applied the two-stage test for expert evidence and found the expert was properly qualified, understood her duty to the court, and her reasoning was transparent and evidence-based.
The court admitted the expert evidence, concluding its probative value outweighed any potential prejudicial effect, leaving the ultimate assessment of weight to the jury.
