MURDER TRIAL: JUDGE ALLOWS COUNSEL TO SHOW DECEASED WAS VIOLENT
R. v. G. S. | 2004 | O.J. No. 1776
Client charged with second-degree murder told the police that he had been provoked and was trying to defend himself. Defence counsel applied to the Court to allow the jury to hear evidence of the Deceased’s previous acts of violence.
The application was granted. The jury heard evidence that the deceased had previously hit a fellow band member in the face with a beer bottle, threw an ashtray at a woman in a bar, and threw drumsticks at his friend. The Superior Court Judge agreed this evidence of the Deceased’s prior behaviour could be used to assist the jury in determining whether the Deceased had a propensity for violence that might cause a victim to consider his life at risk.