What are the issues on appeal for a judge's assessment of credibility in a sexual assault case?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from R. v. Pilkington, 2019 BCCA 374 (CanLII):

The issues on appeal are whether the judge erred in applying the rule in Browne v. Dunn (1893), 1893 CanLII 65 (FOREP), 6 R. 67 (H.L.) when assessing the appellant’s credibility and whether he erred in his evaluation of material aspects of the evidence when assessing the credibility of both the appellant and the complainant.

For the reasons that follow, I would allow the appeal and order a new trial for two reasons, each of which, in my view, is sufficient to warrant appellate interference: 1) Browne v. Dunn has no application to the circumstances of this case, and 2) the judge relied upon matters not in evidence to discount the appellant’s evidence.

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