An accused who absconds during trial is treated as having elected not to give evidence as effectively as if the election were made in open court under s 618 of the Criminal Code, and a Weissenstener direction permitting adverse inferences is appropriate. Flight during trial affords an even firmer foundation for an inference of consciousness of guilt than flight before trial. Evidence of weapons found in an accused's premises, even if not the weapons used in the offences charged, may be admissible as circumstantial evidence of connection to the robberies and, in the case of a co-accused, as evidence of knowledge of the principal offender's propensity.
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