COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent) – and – RAYMOND CHRISTOPHER CLARKE (Appellant)
BEFORE: LABROSSE, DOHERTY and GOUDGE JJ.A.
COUNSEL: Robert Sheppard for the appellant Jeanette Gevikoglu for the respondent
HEARD & RELEASED ORALLY: November 20, 2006
On appeal from the conviction entered on July 22, 2005 by Justice Gregory A. Pockele of the Ontario Court of Justice.
E N D O R S E M E N T
1The appellant appeals his conviction for robbery and related offences on the basis that the trial judge failed to exercise the requisite degree of caution in his assessment of the evidence of the co-accused, Patterson.
2Patterson was an unsavoury witness with a terrible record who had given three different statements to the police. The trial judge properly cautioned himself as to the danger of acting on Patterson’s evidence. However, as reviewed by the trial judge, there were numerous pieces of confirmatory evidence from civilian and police witnesses that supported Patterson’s account of the robbery. In addition, there was DNA evidence that gave rise to the strong inference that the appellant and the other participants were in Patterson’s car as describe by Patterson in his account of the robbery.
3In these circumstances, it was open to the trial judge to find Patterson credible.
4The appeal is dismissed.
"J.M. Labrosse J.A."
"Doherty J.A."
"S.T. Goudge J.A."