Evidence in Sexual Assault Trials

Omar Ha-Redeye was interviewed in The Lawyer’s Daily on the Ontario Court of Appeal decision, R. v. A.S., 2020 ONCA 229,

Toronto lawyer Omar Ha-Redeye, the executive director of the Durham Community Legal Clinic, said judges have told him that sexual assault trials are the most difficult to run.

“Often there is an absence or scarcity of objective evidence; it’s often the case of looking at compelling narratives on multiple sides; and trying to corroborate testimony when credibility is at issue — and we saw a lot of those elements in this case,” he explained, highlighting the use of audio recordings by both the complainant and defendant as evidence.

“We’ve already seen recordings being used in the courts as attempted evidence of the nature of the relationship between the parties, and given the proliferation of smartphones, we’re going to see more of this in the future.”