The appellant, convicted of first-degree murder, appealed on three grounds: erroneous admission of character evidence, inadequate jury instruction regarding R. v. Villaroman principles on mens rea, and failure to provide a corrective instruction for improper bolstering of eyewitness testimony.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no error in the trial judge's discretionary decision to admit character evidence, which was deemed relevant after the appellant put his character in issue.
The court also found the jury instruction on reasonable doubt and circumstantial evidence adequate, negating the need for a specific Villaroman instruction.
Finally, the omission of a corrective instruction was deemed immaterial given trial counsel's lack of insistence.
