Kenneth L. Campbell

The appellant was convicted of second degree murder.

At trial, the Crown relied on the testimony of a witness whose memory of seeing the appellant near the crime scene was refreshed through hypnosis, as well as similar fact evidence from a former girlfriend.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial, holding that post-hypnosis evidence is presumptively inadmissible because it does not meet the reliability requirements for novel scientific evidence.

The Court also found that the similar fact evidence lacked sufficient probative value to outweigh its prejudicial effect, and the curative proviso could not be applied.

The respondent, a convicted sex offender, challenged the constitutionality of s. 487.055 of the Criminal Code, which permits ex parte applications for DNA samples from convicted offenders for inclusion in the national DNA data bank.

He argued the provision violated his Charter rights under ss. 7, 8, and 11 by allowing ex parte proceedings, lacking reasonable and probable grounds linking him to a specific crime, and constituting double punishment.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the constitutionality of the DNA data bank provisions.

The Court found that the collection of DNA for identification purposes is reasonable under s. 8, analogous to fingerprinting, and that the ex parte procedure meets the requirements of procedural fairness under s. 7.

The Court also held that a DNA order is not a punishment under s. 11.