Difference between revisions of "Pleading Not Guilty and Criminal Trials (1:VII)"

:::As a rule, witnesses should not make any inferences or state their opinion about what that evidence proves in their testimony, for example, “I think Steve was going grocery shopping because I saw him with an empty fabric grocery bag.”  Instead, the witness should simply state “I saw Steve and, in his hands, he was holding an empty fabric grocery bag.”  Conclusions drawn from what is seen or heard is for the trier of fact to draw not the witness to opine.  There are often exceptions to these exceptions.  For example, although generally the court does not permit non-expert opinion evidence, someone who is intimately familiar with a person’s appearance can in certain situations provide evidence that they recognise that person from surveillance photographs or video.

Prior to the trial commencing, the defence/self-represented accused should have reviewed the key evidence in the case and identified potential challenges to the admissibility of that evidence. One should consider if the admissibility issue or Charter challenge to the evidence can be canvassed with the Crown prior to the start of a trial. Generally, unless there is a good strategic reason to not inform the Crown, (i.e. informing the Crown will allow it to call additional evidence that the defence knows is available, but not being called) admissibility issues should be brought to the Crown’s attention ahead of time.