R. v. Harriott

The Chief Justice — This is an appeal as of right. The majority of the Court would dismiss the appeal for the reasons of MacPherson J.A. in the Court of Appeal, Iacobucci and Major JJ. dissenting.

Iacobucci and Major JJ. (dissenting) — We agree with our colleagues on the issue of the alibi instructions. However, in our opinion, the testimony of the young offender witness and Ms. Divito required, in the words of Dickson J. (as he then was) in Vetrovec v. The Queen, “a clear and sharp warning to attract the attention of the juror to the risks of adopting, without more, the evidence of the witness” ([1982] 1 S.C.R. 811, at p. 831). We agree with Doherty J.A., dissenting in the Ontario Court of Appeal, that the charge of the trial judge when read as a whole did not meet this standard. Accordingly, we would allow the appeal, set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, and order a new trial.