In a pre-trial criminal ruling on sexual offence charges involving a complainant who was a minor at the time of the alleged abuse, the court admitted the complainant’s video-recorded police statement under s. 715.1 of the Criminal Code, subject to adoption at trial.
The court held that reasonableness under s. 715.1 is a contextual inquiry, not a strict calculation of elapsed time, and found the delayed disclosure explicable given the familial relationship, the complainant’s age, and her anxiety.
The court ordered limited redactions for conceded oath-helping passages but declined to remove chronology-related passages said to be prior consistent statements, holding any prejudice could be addressed by jury instruction.
The court also settled race-bias challenge for cause questions and granted the Crown’s s. 486.2 application for CCTV testimony.
