PSSC 130 CHAPTER 8,9

• provision that addresses evidence of a complainant's sexual history is the rape shield provision
• similar fact evidence: evidence that must bear a strikingly similar resemblance to the accused
• an ordinary person can give an opinion when testifying on:

  • age
  • race
  • general description
  • Weight, Height
• knowledge, training, and experience qualifies someone as an expert when testifying
• threshold test for admissibility of expert evidence:

  • r. v. mohan
• Character evidence: evidence of past acts to prove that a person acted in a certain way.
• prosecution is not allowed to lead evidence of an accused's bad character or previous convictions
• Exception to character evidence rule is when the accused puts his character in issue.
• Criminal record of accused is generally not admitted into evidence by the crown. an exception of this is to assess the general credibility where the accused chooses to testify
• Good character evidence is not very meaningful. when accused calls good character evidence, they put their character in issue.
• propensity or disposition evidence: Evidence of an accused person's psychiatric tendency to act a certain way.
• Mohan factors for evidence to be an expert opinion:

  • Relevance
  • necessity
  • qualifications