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Multiple evidentiary and charge errors required a new trial.
Joint criminal appeal from murder and attempted murder convictions arising out of a multiple-victim shooting in which both appellants admitted firing guns but relied principally on self-defence.
The court held that the trial judge committed multiple evidentiary and jury-charge errors, including admitting weak and highly prejudicial peaceful-disposition evidence from parents of deceased victims, admitting one witness's unsworn videotaped statement for its truth under the principled hearsay exception despite insufficient reliability safeguards, and improperly limiting the jury's use of translation evidence concerning another witness's adopted prior words.
The court further found errors in the treatment of after-the-fact conduct, co-accused bad character evidence, provocation, and the reopening issue.
Considering the cumulative effect of the errors, the curative proviso could not be applied.
A new trial was ordered on all charges.
