R. Allman

During a criminal trial for historical sexual offences, the accused sought to question character witnesses about whether he had a disposition to commit sexual assault or acts of violence.

The Crown objected, arguing that character evidence from lay witnesses must be limited to evidence of general reputation rather than personal opinions about specific traits or conduct.

The court held that questions about sexual morality or peaceful disposition would elicit impermissible opinion evidence and had minimal probative value in the context of private historical allegations involving a child.

Relying on appellate jurisprudence regarding the limited value of such evidence in sexual offence cases, the judge concluded that the prejudicial effects and trial inefficiency outweighed any probative value.

The proposed questioning was therefore disallowed.

The accused, charged with historical indecent assaults from the 1970s, brought a motion to introduce evidence of an alternate suspect.

The accused sought to introduce evidence that his daughters were sexually assaulted by their cousin during the same time period and in the same locations.

The court applied the air of reality test and found that the proposed evidence was sufficiently connected to the charges to be relevant and probative.

The court concluded that the probative value of the alternate suspect evidence outweighed any prejudicial effect, and the application was granted.