Admissibility of Hearsay: Schneider and Contextualization
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) describes hearsay as an out of court statement admitted for the truth of its contents. Hearsay is presumptively inadmissible, meaning that it is not to be admitted as evidence in a trial unless it satisfies certain exceptions established by the courts. R v Schneider provides a recent example of the court considering exceptions to the hearsay rule. It centres on the admission of an overheard phone conversation where the accused admitted respon
The Brother’s Ear: Speculation, Weak Instruction, and Other Shortcomings in Schneider by Lisa Haydey and Laraib Khaliqdina
Can a phone conversation between a man and his wife, overheard in part by the man’s brother, be admitted as evidence that the man committed murder? What if the brother who overheard the conversation had been drinking, was under extreme stress, and recalled two different versions of what was said? This was the complex issue faced by Canada’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), in R v Schneider. William Schneider was charged with the second- degree murder of Natsu
