The W.D. Instruction Required where Credibility is a Crucial Issue


Where credibility is a “crucial issue” at trial, failure on the part of the trial judge to specifically and adequately instruct the jury on credibility and the burden of proof may constitute a reversible error. As the Supreme Court held in R. v. J.H.S., 2008 SCC 30, [2008] 2 S.C.R. 152, at para. 8:

A series of decisions over at least the past 20 years has affirmed and reaffirmed the proposition that where credibility is a central issue in a jury trial, the judge must explain the relationship between the assessment of credibility and the Crown’s ultimate burden to prove the guilt of the accused to the criminal standard.  A general instruction on reasonable doubt without adverting to its relationship to the credibility (or lack of credibility) of the witnesses leaves open too great a possibility of confusion or misunderstanding.

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