Summary Of R V Lavallee 1989

Case: R. v. Lavallee 1989: October 31; 1990: May 3
Relevant Facts The appellant, Angelique Lyn Lavallee, lived with her partner, Kevin Rust. The crime occurred in their house. Lavallee was frequently physically abused by Rust throughout their relationship, and killed him with a gunshot to the back of the head as he walked out of the room after an argument. Several doctors and the police officer who took Lavallee’s statement testified to injuries on Lavallee’s murder that corroborated her claims that he was beating her before the shooting occurred. Furthermore, friends and acquaintances of Lavallee and Rust testified that the couple were frequently arguing and Lavallee was often sporting injuries such as a black eye or a split lip. There were

The Court drew from several cases in order to arrive to the final decision. The Court stated that the expert evidence was admissible if “the subject-matter of the inquiry must be such that ordinary people are unlikely to form a correct judgment about it, if unassisted by persons with special knowledge" (R v. Lavallee, [1990] 1 SCR 852). The Court reasoned that the use of expert evidence in this case, which dealt with self-defence and battered woman syndrome, was relevant and necessary in order for the court to understand the mental state of

Shane’s assessment was corroborated by descriptions of battered woman syndrome in various forms of literature, helping the jury understand the extent of Lavallee’s mental state that was affected by the abuse and the reasons for her action.
After reviewing the evidence, the Court stated that “ Expert testimony is admissible to assist the fact-finder in drawing inferences in areas where the expert has relevant knowledge or experience beyond that of the lay person” (R v. Lavallee, [1990] 1 SCR 852), because this applied to the jury’s process in deciding, by allowing them to understand the components of battered woman syndrome.
Furthermore, a new trial would be unnecessary because the Court reasoned that both the jury and the trial judge were presented with enough admissible evidence to know that Lavallee was battered repeatedly and brutally by Rust throughout their relationship. The Court reasoned that while Dr. Shane’s expert evidence provided more information from Lavallee and about the incident, there was enough evidence for the jury to come to the same