On a Crown pretrial motion in a first degree murder prosecution, the court considered whether two earlier forged solicitor letters were admissible as extrinsic misconduct or similar fact evidence.
The Crown alleged the accused used a similar cut-and-paste method to attach genuine signatures to fabricated documents, and argued the prior letters were probative of authorship, modus operandi, and the alleged falsity of a will and related estate documents said to support motive, planning, and deliberation.
Applying the threshold analysis for extrinsic misconduct and the similar fact balancing framework, the court found the evidence relevant, material, discreditable, and strongly probative.
The court held the probative value outweighed moral and reasoning prejudice and admitted the letters.
