The appellant was convicted of second degree murder based largely on circumstantial evidence, including post-offence conduct such as flight and concealment.
The trial judge delivered jury instructions in segments throughout the trial and provided written transcripts to the jury.
On appeal, the appellant argued the jury should have been instructed to apply the reasonable doubt standard specifically to the post-offence conduct, and that the piecemeal jury charge format was a reversible error.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that the reasonable doubt standard applies only to the final evaluation of guilt, not to individual pieces of evidence, and that while the format of the jury charge was unorthodox and risky, it did not result in a miscarriage of justice in this case.
