The appellant, a self-represented litigant at trial, appealed the dismissal of his application to vary spousal and child support.
At trial, he attempted to introduce a notarized letter regarding his income, which was rejected as hearsay.
The trial judge refused his request for an adjournment to call the author of the letter as a witness and drew an adverse inference from the failure to call the witness.
The Court of Appeal (majority) allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge should have granted a reasonable adjournment to allow the self-represented appellant to fairly present his case.
A new trial was ordered.
