M. Ellison

The accused was charged with stabbing the victim at a house party.

The victim, who was highly intoxicated, identified the accused as the stabber.

The defence called a third-party suspect who denied involvement.

Applying the W.(D.) framework, the court found the defence witness and the party host lacked credibility.

However, the court also found the victim's evidence unreliable due to his extreme intoxication (blood alcohol over 0.240) and inconsistencies in his testimony.

The Crown failed to prove identity beyond a reasonable doubt, and the charge was dismissed.

The accused was tried for attempted murder and aggravated assault following a stabbing in an apartment building.

During the trial, the accused brought an application for a stay of proceedings, arguing that his section 7 Charter rights were violated because the police failed to seize and preserve video surveillance footage from the building's lobby.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the police were not unacceptably negligent as they had no reason to believe the lobby video was relevant until months later.

Furthermore, the defence knew of the video's existence from the outset but took no steps to obtain it, and the video would not have captured the actual altercation.