Sarah E. Loosemore

The appellant appealed his convictions for sexual offences against his stepdaughter, arguing the trial judge erred in defining reasonable doubt, misused prior inconsistent statements, and improperly assessed witness credibility.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge adequately instructed himself on the burden of proof, properly handled the prior inconsistent statements, and reasonably assessed the evidence and credibility of the witnesses.

The appellant appealed his convictions on the basis of inconsistent verdicts.

He had admitted participation in all charged offences but relied on the defences of duress and necessity, which applied equally to all crimes as part of a single transaction.

The Court of Appeal found that the jury must have reached an unjustifiable compromise, allowed the appeal, set aside the convictions, and entered acquittals.

The appellant was convicted by a jury of seven bank robberies based on a videotaped confession, eyewitness identification, and circumstantial evidence.

On appeal, he argued that his videotaped statement was inadmissible because police did not reiterate his right to counsel when questioning shifted to other robberies, that the jury was inadequately instructed on photo lineups, that the trial judge's interventions caused a miscarriage of justice, and that the jury was not told to consider evidence for each count separately.

The Court of Appeal found that the appellant understood his jeopardy and right to counsel, and dismissed the first three grounds.

While the trial judge erred by failing to instruct the jury to consider the identification evidence separately for each count, the Court applied the curative proviso because the videotaped confession provided overwhelming evidence of guilt.

The appeal was dismissed.