COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) v. LAWRENCE
BROWN (Appellant)
BEFORE: DOHERTY, ABELLA and MOLDAVER JJ.A.
COUNSEL: Anthony Moustacalis
for the appellant
Karen Shai
for the respondent
HEARD: July 11, 2000
On appeal from the conviction imposed by Judge Grossi dated
August 8, 1996.
E N D O R S E M E N T
[1] The eyewitness identification evidence provided
independently by two witnesses was not so inherently unreliable
as to warrant the conclusion that the conviction based on that
evidence was unreasonable.
[2] The trial judge made one factual error in his review of the
evidence, however, that error was not such as to taint the
verdict.
[3] The fact that the witnesses, independently of each other and
the police, saw a photograph of the appellant in the newspaper
and both identified him as the robber from that photograph before
being shown the photographic line-ups did not, in the
circumstances of this case, taint their identification. There was
nothing in the newspaper or in the photograph to suggest that
this appellant was in any way connected to this crime. Nor were
the witnesses asked to make any identification from the
photograph in the newspaper. The identifications based on the
photograph in the newspaper were made independently of each other
were totally unsolicited.
4The verdict was not unreasonable. The appeal is dismissed.
“Doherty J.A.”
“R.S. Abella J.A.”
“M.J. Moldaver J.A.”