Between
Her Majesty the Queen (respondent), and
Roberto Correa (applicant)
[1997] O.J. No. 4106
Docket No. C26603
Ontario Court of Appeal
Toronto, Ontario
Finlayson, Osborne and Goudge JJ.A.
Heard: October 9, 1997.
Judgment: October 15, 1997.
(1 p.)
Criminal law - Evidence and witnesses - Identification - Proof of - Appeals - Grounds of appeal - Verdict unreasonable.
Appeal by the accused from conviction. He argued that the verdict was unreasonable based on the discrepancies in the identification evidence. There were discrepancies as to accent with which the trial judge did not deal in his reasons.
HELD: Appeal allowed. An acquittal was entered. The discrepancies in the identification evidence were significant. The verdict was unsafe.
Counsel:
Lorne Sabsay, for the appellant.
Michael Bernstein, for the respondent.
The following judgment was delivered by
1 THE COURT (endorsement):- Since the only ground of appeal is that the verdict is unreasonable, we are obliged to review the trial record. Having done so, we are all of the view that the verdict is unsafe. In our view, the discrepancies as to identification, particularly as to accent and as to the description of the assailant as Asian, are significant. The trial judge did not deal with the accent discrepancy in his reasons. Coupling these factors with the complete lack of evidence supporting the identification, we conclude that the verdict is unreasonable.
2 Accordingly, the appeal is allowed, the verdict set aside, and an acquittal is entered.
FINLAYSON J.A.
OSBORNE J.A.
GOUDGE J.A.
QL Update: 971024
cp/d/mii/DRS
