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Criminal - Judge-Only Trial. R. v. Shi
In R. v. Shi (Ont CA, 2025) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed a criminal appeal, here addressing Vetrovec cautions and judge-only trials:[38] The general rule is that, before relying on the evidence of an unsavoury witness to convict an accused, jurors are to be given a “Vetrovec” caution, including the direction that they should look for evidence from another source tending to show that the untrustworthy witness is telling the truth about the guilt of the accused: Roks, at para. 63; R. v. Khela, 2009 SCC 4, [2009] 1 S.C.R. 104, at para. 37; and Kehler, at paras. 17-19. It is about whether the witness can be trusted in their assertion that the accused is the person who committed the offence: Roks, at para. 65.
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[41] As this court has repeatedly emphasized, there is no need to import the requirement of a Vetrovec caution, which is designed to alert juries to the danger of relying on the evidence of certain witnesses, into a trial judge’s reasons for judgment: judges know the risks inherent in relying on such witnesses: see e.g., R. v. Snyder, 2011 ONCA 445, 273 C.C.C. (3d) 211, at para. 24; R. v. Pelletier, 2012 ONCA 566, 295 O.A.C. 200, at para. 65. As in Pelletier, the trial judge in this case was well aware of the need for caution in assessing Mr. Matthews-Bishop’s evidence. He was entitled to accept parts of it, including the specific relationship evidence that the appellant impugns, even in the absence of confirmatory evidence. And in any event, no rule of law requires confirmatory evidence before any part of the evidence of an unsavoury witness is accepted: Pelletier, at paras. 72-73.
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