The accused was charged with attempting to obstruct justice by persuading a fellow inmate to fabricate evidence for an appeal of prior convictions.
The Crown relied on letters purportedly written by the accused to the inmate.
The defence argued the inmate fabricated the letters to gain favour and applied for a stay of proceedings due to the loss of original letter exhibits from a previous trial.
The court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused authored the letters, based on handwriting analysis and the minute details only the accused could know.
The court denied the stay application, finding no unacceptable negligence in the loss of originals and no actual prejudice to the defence, as authenticated photocopies and other evidence were available for a fair trial.
