Court of Appeal

Judge:

The Honourable Justice Linda Lee Oland

Appeal Heard:

December 9, 2015, in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Subject:

Criminal Law - Admission of Evidence – Text Messages – Corroborative Evidence – Post-Offence Evidence – Oral Decisions

Summary:

The appellant appeals from conviction for first degree murder, claiming that the judge made numerous errors in his treatment and reliance on certain evidence.  He also points to a discrepancy between the document the judge gave counsel and what the judge said in delivering his decision orally. 

Issues:

Whether the judge erred in law:  (a) by admitting certain text messages; (b) by admitting alleged hearsay evidence as corroborative evidence; (c) by relying on the evidence of a post-offence trip as corroborative evidence; (d) by relying on the evidence of a certain witness as corroborative evidence; and, (e) by doing so, substantially prejudicing the appellant such that s. 686(1)(b)(iii) of the Criminal Code would not apply.  The appellant also argued that the judge’s decision was embodied in the document he gave counsel, which he says showed that the judge had relied on the testimony of a witness that he had found was not reliable. 

Result:

Appeal dismissed.  The judge did not err in his admission and reliance of the impugned evidence in (a) to (d) inclusive.  His decision was not the unsigned document passed to counsel, but what he stated on the record.  None of the grounds of appeal having succeeded, it was not necessary to consider the curative provision in the Code.