In R. v. B.E.M. (SCC, 2023) the Supreme Court of Canada states briefly a useful practice point:
It is common ground that, in closing submissions to the jury, Crown counsel should not have recounted an anecdote about a personal childhood memory that had no connection to the evidence (see Pisani v. The Queen, 1970 CanLII 30 (SCC), [1971] S.C.R. 738, at p. 740). Personal anecdotes have no place in closing submissions and are fundamentally at odds with the role of counsel, and particularly the role of Crown counsel (see Boucher v. The Queen, 1954 CanLII 3 (SCC), [1955] S.C.R. 16). ...
The author has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this Isthatlegal.ca webpage.
