Reasons for Judgment — The Court
The Court — The appellant appeals to the Court as of right. The issue is whether the guilty verdicts entered by the trial judge are unreasonable. We agree with Chamberland J.A.’s conclusion in dissent that [translation] “[t]he circumstantial evidence has so little weight that it was unreasonable to convict the appellant of the assault on L.V.” ([2008] Q.J. No. 195 (QL), 2008 QCCA 78, at para. 46).
We also agree with Chamberland J.A. (at para. 47) that as a result of this conclusion, the Court need not deal with the similar fact evidence, [translation] “since it was that verdict that led the trial judge to find the appellant guilty of the other 14 assaults, all of which had been committed by a single man”.
Consequently, the appeal is allowed and a verdict of acquittal is substituted on each of the counts on which the appellant was convicted.
Cases cited
- 2008 QCCA 78 2008 QCCA 78 para 46 ¶ 1