Key legal question
Whether the cantonal court violated the defendant's right to be heard by failing to address his argument that the key witness's drug use undermined testimonial reliability.
Extracted holding
Yes. The court had to deal with the argument because it was relevant in light of the witness's heavy narcotics consumption; omitting any response violated Article 29(2) of the Constitution.
Extracted reasoning
A judge need not address every submission, but must deal with decisive arguments. Since jurisprudence requires caution when assessing testimony from persons affected by significant drug use, the appeal argument was not manifestly irrelevant and had to be addressed, even if only to reject it.