Episode Details

Joseph and Alper dive into one of the most unsettling sexual assault decisions to come out of the Supreme Court of Canada in years: **R. v. Rioux, 2025 SCC 34**, released the very day they hit record. Still hot off the printer, the judgment sends Joseph’s blood pressure through the roof as he and Alper give their **raw, first reaction** to a 5–4 split decision that effectively rewrites how courts treat **consent, capacity, blackouts, and memory loss** in sexual assault trials. They walk through the core facts, then zero in on the majority’s treatment of **blackout and memory loss as circumstantial evidence of incapacity**, and the idea that a complainant’s *beliefs and assumptions* about how they “would have acted” can stand in for an actual memory of events. Along the way, they unpack the difference between **actus reus and mens rea**, explain why the distinction between **direct and circumstantial evidence** is being stretched to absurdity, and highlight how this reasoning risks turning ordinary adult sexual behaviour especially where alcohol is involved into a legal minefield. From Vegas blackout marriages to the realities of human behaviour after a few drinks, Joseph and Alper argue this ruling is **“ripe for abuse”** and dangerously divorced from common sense. With plenty of dark humour, legal nuance, and a few F-bombs, they lay the groundwork for a much deeper doctrinal analysis in Part Two of this “Consent Trilogy.” If you care about due process, evidentiary standards, and the future of sexual assault law in Canada, this is a must-listen. Website: http://www.NotOnRecordpodcast.com Sign up to our email list - http://eepurl.com/hw3g99 Social Media Links Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NotonRecord Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notonrecordpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notonrecordpodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notonrecord Telegram: https://t.me/NotOnRecord Minds: http://www.minds.com/notonrecord Audio Platforms Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4F2ssnX7ktfGH8OzH4QsuX Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-on-record-podcast/id1565405753 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/notonrecord Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-842207 For more information on criminal law issues go to Neuberger & Partners LLP http://www.nrlawyers.com. Produced by Possibly Correct Media www.PossiblyCorrect.com