The appellant appealed his murder conviction to the Court of Appeal and applied to adduce fresh evidence consisting of traffic offence notices.
The Court of Appeal granted the motion to admit the evidence but subsequently dismissed the appeal, applying the curative proviso and concluding the evidence could not have affected the verdict.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial, holding that once fresh evidence is admitted on the basis that it might reasonably affect the verdict, the court cannot later conclude it had no such effect without usurping the jury's function.
The curative proviso cannot be applied where no error at trial is shown and the issue is solely the admission of fresh evidence.