The appellant was convicted of first degree murder following a trial in which the key witness refused to testify.
The trial judge admitted the witness's prior statements as hearsay under the principled approach, finding that threshold reliability had been established.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Applying R. v. Bradshaw, 2017 SCC 35, a majority of the panel dismissed the appeal largely for the reasons of Dickson J.A., while Karakatsanis and Brown JJ. would have allowed the appeal substantially for the reasons of Bennett J.A. The appeal was dismissed and the first degree murder conviction upheld.
