Opinion of The Court
The Court found in favour of Lifchus and ordered a new trial. The opinion of the Court was written by Cory J. with a minority opinion by L'Heureux-Dubé J.
Cory used the case as an opportunity to describe the significance of the "reasonable doubt" standard. He described it as a fundamental principle in criminal justice and was intertwined with the presumption of innocence. As such, the description of the meaning to the jury must be done very carefully.
Read more about this topic: R. V. Lifchus
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