Royland M. Mariah

The accused was charged with four counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, involving banks, a convenience store, and a home invasion.

The Crown alleged the accused acted as the getaway driver using his red Dodge Charger.

The court found the accused guilty of the convenience store robbery based on police surveillance.

Relying on a co-accused's prior statements to police and similar fact evidence, the court found the accused guilty of the bank robberies.

However, the court found the evidence insufficient to prove the accused's involvement in the home invasion, resulting in an acquittal on that count.

During a trial for multiple robberies, the Crown applied to admit the out-of-court statements of two witnesses for their truth.

One witness, an independent observer, had lost his memory of the events by the time of trial.

The other witness, a co-perpetrator, recanted his videotaped police statement implicating the accused, alleging police misconduct.

The court applied the principled approach to hearsay and the KGB framework, finding both statements met the requirements of necessity and threshold reliability.

The application was granted, and both statements were admitted as substantive evidence.