PSYC 376 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Dying Declaration, Declarant, Unit

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 376
• Professor: Deborah Connolly

Document Summary

Inherently unreliable: declarant was not sworn at the time the statement was made. Trier of fact cannot observe demeanor of the declarant: being able to observe is related to reliability of the declarant. Before 1990 categories of admissible hearsay, for instance: dying declaration. R. v. khan (1990) introduced the principled approach to the admissibility of hearsay evidence: necessary + reliable. If the party can establish the hearsay is necessary and reliable, then it should be admitted (notwithstanding hearsay evidence) Necessity (cid:862)reaso(cid:374)a(cid:271)l(cid:455) (cid:374)e(cid:272)essar(cid:455) a(cid:374)d (cid:373)ust (cid:271)e gi(cid:448)e(cid:374) a fle(cid:454)i(cid:271)le defi(cid:374)itio(cid:374), (cid:272)apa(cid:271)le of e(cid:374)(cid:272)o(cid:373)passi(cid:374)g di(cid:448)erse situatio(cid:374)s(cid:863) (cid:894)r. (cid:448). If the child will suffer emotional trauma (more than mere discomfort) Reliability (cid:862)a threshold test that establishes a circumstantial guarantee of trustworthiness(cid:863) Has to have a circumstantial guarantee in order for the trier of facts to hear the evidence: may consider: non-exhaustive. Whether the family dynamics/person to whom the statement was made raise credibility issues.