Robson Crim Legal Blog

Since Delgamuukwi, the oral histories of Indigenous peoples have been recognized as being put on “an equal footing” with documentary evidence.ii Oral history is a means to transmit information orally to record history and preserve Indigenous knowledge.iii The Cowichaniv case was a voir dire to determine the threshold reliability of the oral history evidence of Grant, Guerin and Chief Wayne Sparrow and to allow them to testify without interruption.

In R v Hart, Cromwell JA stated that the cross-examination process is a “cornerstone of the adversarial trial process… [and that] it is an important vehicle for the discovery of truth.”[1] As such, if an accused person chooses to testify,[2] their testimony can be subjected to a cross-examination by Crown counsel.[3] The cross-examination process is ultimately “a fundamental feature of a fair trial.”[4] It is intended to produce evidence in relation to the credibility of an i

In 1996, while dancing at home with his girlfriend’s infant son, Tyler, in his arms, twenty-three-year-old Bernard Doyle tripped and fell. Tyler fell on construction tools that were scattered around the floor of the apartment, with Mr. Doyle landing on top of him. In spite of immediately receiving medical attention, Tyler’s injuries were too severe; he died in the hospital the next day. Mr. Doyle was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

The case R. v. Papasotiriou-Lanteigne provides a detailed examination of the admissibility of hearsay evidence, with a particular focus on the principle of threshold liability. In 2018, the defendants were convicted of first-degree murder by a jury in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice. As the case proceeded to appeal in October of 2022, the trial judge revisited his decision to admit hearsay evidence presented by the defence.

Public debate about bail reform is often driven by the most sensational cases. In this episode of the  Robson Hall Criminal Law Podcast , criminal defence lawyer  Wendy Martin-White  brings a grounded, front-line perspective to what bail looks like day-to-day in Manitoba—and where the real pressure points are. The discussion shows a system that is not “broken,” but strained: shaped by limited resources, unrealistic conditions that can funnel people back into custody, and the