This is a Crown appeal from the respondent's acquittals on charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of various controlled substances, as well as possession of property obtained by crime.
The Crown's case was circumstantial, and the appeal grounds related to the trial judge's assessment of this evidence.
The appellant argued the trial judge considered the circumstantial evidence in a piecemeal fashion rather than cumulatively.
The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge correctly instructed herself on the law regarding circumstantial evidence and applied it properly, considering the evidence as a whole and identifying limitations without assessing individual pieces in isolation against the reasonable doubt standard.
The court dismissed the appeal, concluding that no legal error was committed by the trial judge.
The court also clarified that misapprehension of evidence is a question of mixed fact and law, not appealable by the Crown on a question of law alone, and affirmed the trial judge's correct application of law regarding constructive and joint possession.
