COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO

DATE: 20001109

DOCKET: C31535

RE: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN (Respondent)

v. ROBERT McWATTERS (Appellant)

BEFORE: McMURTRY C.J.O., CHARRON and MacPHERSON JJ.A.

COUNSEL: Maureen Forestell,

for the appellant

Leslie Paine,

for the respondent

HEARD: November 3, 2000

On appeal from his conviction by Justice P. B. Pickett on November 30, 1998

E N D O R S E M E N T

[1] The appellant appeals from his convictions of theft and possession of stolen property. The sole issue is the identification of the appellant as the offender. The appellant argues that the trial judge failed to address the frailties of the identification evidence, erred in relying on the sincerity of the witnesses rather than the reliability of their testimony and, finally, that the verdict is unreasonable. We disagree. Although brief, the reasons of the trial judge reveal no such errors. Moreover, the evidence, in our view, amply supports the verdict. The verdict is not based solely on the eyewitness identification made by the complainant but on the circumstantial evidence placing the appellant at the scene at the relevant time.

[2] Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.