Expert Evidence of the Accused’s Disposition
The admissibility of psychiatric opinion evidence on the accused’s disposition engages at least two inquires: · The admissibility of the evidence as expert opinion evidence, · The admissibility of the evidence as character evidence. The Admissibility of Expert Opinion Evidence Opinion evidence, including expert opinion evidence, is presumptively inadmissible. R. v. Abbey , 2009 ONCA 624, 97 O.R. (3d) 330, at para. 71, leave to appeal refused, [2010] S.C.C.A. No. 125. To be admissible, expert opinion evidence must satisfy certain preconditions to admissibility and also survive a cost/benefit analysis by the trial judge. At this second stage, the trial judge decides whether having regard to the risks inherent in admitting expert evidence, the benefits to the fact-finding process in the specific case warrant the admission of that evidence: White Burges...