During a jury trial on charges of common assault and sexual assault, the accused brought a Corbett application seeking to edit his prior criminal record so that the Crown could not cross‑examine him on prior convictions if he testified.
The court applied the balancing test assessing whether the probative value of prior convictions for credibility exceeded their prejudicial effect.
Older convictions unrelated to honesty, including weapons possession, drug possession, and mischief, were excluded due to limited relevance and risk of prejudice.
However, convictions for personation with intent and multiple breaches of court orders were admitted because they bore directly on credibility and respect for the law.
The defence application was therefore granted in part.
