R. v. Burns, [1994] 1 S.C.R. 656
Case Brief
Summary
The accused (name rescinded for privacy), a young female was being charged with sexual and indecent assault of 5 young boys while babysitting. As a result of this her history was brought up as it proved to be relevant to the case.
History
The accused (female) mother had died while she was at a young age (four years old) and so she was left to care for herself and her alcoholic father. Burns was a close family friend who would often visit and stay with the family. The accused (female) had at this point been living in and out of foster homes while living with her father in between. Furthermore her father also had a new wife and son. When living with her father or visiting him it would be to his mobile home.
The assaults had begun to occur during those times in which the accused was staying with or visiting her father. She claimed that the first assault occurred in 1980 when Burns was driving her and pulled over into a sideroad and committed said assault. The assaults continued after that in and out of the home. In 1987 he entered the home and forcefully had intercourse (rape) with her.
All of these facts came to light during the trial given the psychological consults which she had gone through in her evaluation. When asked why she had never revealed this to anyone or in court she explained how she feared her father or others not believing her or others alienating her from their lives.
Procedure
The court of appeal then set aside these convictions and ordered a new trial to take place, this was given they did not find the complainants evidence to be overwhelmingly convincing regarding her assaults. They questioned the trial judge's original conviction of Burns as guilty and applied the principles of reasonable doubt to the case. They reviewed the evidence and ended up agreeing with the original trial judge's decision.
In conclusion, they believed that the evidence brought forth by the psychologist was valid to have in the trial given it was in support of proving that she would not have committed the assaults given a similar case had occurred to her. The psychological evaluation proved to be a treatment of her behaviour, enough so that she was not accused. Burns was charged with two counts of sexual assault.
References
Supreme Court of Canada. (2024, January 23). R. v. Burns - SCC cases. Decisions and Resources - SCC Cases. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1121/index.do
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