Inadmissible Anecdotal Evidence or Admissible Experience-Based Knowledge?
From time-to-time, police officers will testify as experts on the basis of expertise that has been obtained through practical experience on the job over many years. The boundaries of any proposed expert opinion must be carefully delineated. As well, t he trial judge must ensure that the expert stays within the bounds of their expertise and that the evidence is properly the subject of expert evidence. The guilt or innocence of accused persons that the police officer had encountered in the past is generally not legally relevant to the accused’s guilt or innocence. [FN1] In R. v. J.T ., 2021 ONCA 922 (CanLII), the Appellant argued that unlawful pornography had been automatically downloaded onto his computer. The forensics police officer gave evidence that in his experience he had never seen child pornography end up on a computer in an automatic fashion. The judge relied on this evidence and ultimately convicted the accused. The admission and reliance of the evidenc...