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36 Crim. L.Q. 372 (1993-1994)
Emerging Issues in the Area of Scopelliti Evidence

handle is hein.journals/clwqrty36 and id is 400 raw text is: Emerging Issues in the Area of Scopelliti Evidence Alexander Alvaro* Introduction More than a decade has passed since the Ontario Court of Appeal issued its landmark judgment in R. v. Scopelliti.' Writing for the court, Mr. Justice Martin held that an accused who relies upon the defence of self-defence may, under certain conditions, adduce evidence of prior acts of violence com- mitted by the deceased - whether known or unknown to the accused. Such evidence was held to be admissible to show that the deceased was more likely to have been the aggressor on the occasion in question, and to enhance the credibility of the accused. The judgment in Scopelliti left open a number of issues with which trial judges continue to struggle and which will in due course need to be addressed by the appellate courts. These issues include the need for defence counsel to lay an eviden- tiary foundation and the timing of that evidence; the type of character evidence sought to be adduced by the defence; and the status of the accused's character once Scopelliti evidence is called. This article seeks to flesh out these issues and to show the state of the Canadian law in dealing with them. The Timing of the Evidence Evidence of the deceased's bad character is generally prejudicial to the Crown's case because the jury might be led to believe that because the deceased was a bad person he or she may have deserved his or her fate. This is why the evidence of the deceased's violent character alone cannot form the basis * Barrister at Law, Toronto. (1981), 63 C.C.C. (2d) 481, 34 O.R. (2d) 524 (C.A.).

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