The accused, charged with second-degree murder, brought a pre-trial application to adduce evidence that a third party committed the offence.
The court assessed whether there was a sufficient connection between the third party and the crime to establish an air of reality for the defence.
Assuming the proposed evidence to be true, the court found that the third party's opportunity, admissions of guilt, fingerprint evidence, and other circumstantial factors met the air of reality threshold.
The application was granted, permitting the accused to lead the third-party suspect evidence at trial, with admissibility to be determined when tendered.