What is the test for adducing evidence that supports the argument that the accused has committed a similar fact crime?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. Hughes, 1998 CanLII 15087 (BC SC):
The rule that has come to be known as the similar fact rule was defined in the following oft-quoted passage from Makin v. The Attorney General of New South Wales, [1894] A.C. 57 (P.C.) at p. 65: It is undoubtedly not competent for the prosecution to adduce evidence tending to show that the accused has been guilty of criminal acts other than those covered by the indictment, for the purpose of leading to the conclusion that the accused is a person likely from his criminal conduct or character to have committed the offence for which he is being tried. On the other hand, the mere fact that the evidence adduced tends to show that the commission of other crimes does not render it admissible if it to be relevant to an issue before the jury, and it may be so relevant if it bears upon the question whether the acts alleged to constitute the crime charged in the indictment were designed or accidental, or to rebut a defence which could otherwise be open to the accused.
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