Law360 Canada ( January 23, 2026, 11:44 AM EST) -- Appeal by Hussein from a judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal which upheld his conviction for second-degree murder. Boucher was fatally stabbed after a night of drinking with friends in a basement apartment where Hussein was in attendance. Although there were no witnesses to the stabbing, forensic evidence and after-the-fact conduct evidence pointed to Hussein. Hussein was charged with second-degree murder and tried before a jury. At trial, he brought a Corbett application requesting the exclusion of his criminal record which included youth and adult convictions. He had prior convictions for uttering threats, assault, robbery and possession of a weapon among others. The trial judge dismissed his application concluding that the probative value of the criminal record outweighed its prejudicial effect. Hussein was convicted of second-degree murder. The Court of appeal found that the trial judge’s decision on the Corbett application was not unreasonable, nor did it contain any errors in principle and upheld his conviction. Hussein argued that the trial judge’s ruling on the Corbett application included a series of errors in principle and was unreasonable. He stated that courts have interpreted and applied the framework established in R. v. Corbett (Corbett) inconsistently and proposed modifications concerning the admission of an accused’s criminal record under s. 12(1) of the Canada Evidence Act (CEA). The Crown argued that Hussein sought to overturn Corbett and amend s. 12(1) of the CEA....