What is the test for drawing an adverse inference from a witness statement?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Rohl v. British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles), 2018 BCCA 316 (CanLII):

The judge relied in part on Odden v. British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) 2016 BCSC 2394, the facts of which were similar to those at issue here. In Odden, an adjudicator under the Act had drawn an adverse inference from the absence of any corroborating evidence from a friend of the driver. The driver deposed that he had been at the friend’s house in the early evening and at a pub with him in the later evening, over the course of which he had consumed a total of four beers, finishing at midnight. He had been stopped at about 12:20 a.m. after leaving the pub. The adjudicator in Odden drew the inference that the friend’s evidence would have been contrary to that of the driver: If a person has information in his possession that could assist in supporting the argument that the officer’s evidence is wrong – like witness statements from the passengers, which the person does not submit – an adjudicator can draw an adverse interest, the inference that the witness statement would be unfavourable to the applicant’s argument. I am drawing an adverse inference from the absence of any corroborating evidence from your friend of your drinking pattern – an inference that your friend’s evidence would be inconsistent with your version of events. I find it more likely than not that the evidence of your drinking pattern is unreliable. [Quoted at para. 19 of Odden.]

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