What is corroborative evidence in a sexual assault case?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from R. v. Aksidan, 2006 BCCA 258 (CanLII):

However, it is settled law that corroborative evidence is evidence from some source other than the witness that confirms the witness’s testimony and tends to show that the witness is telling the truth: Vetrovec v. The Queen, 1982 CanLII 20 (SCC), [1982] 1 S.C.R. 811 at pp. 826-27, 829. As Dickson J. (as he then was) explained (at pp. 831-32) in his judgment for the court, “corroboration” is synonymous with “confirmation and support” and it should be sought in cases . . . where as a matter of common sense something in the nature of confirmatory evidence should be found before the finder of fact relies upon the evidence of a witness whose testimony occupies a central position in the purported demonstration of guilt and yet may be suspect by reason of the witness being an accomplice or complainant or of disreputable character.

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