In
a previous blog post, we discussed the possibility of a new
trial being granted to Christopher Husbands. Husbands was the
perpetrator in the 2012 Eaton Centre shootings, which killed two
people. Husbands was found guilty of two counts of second-degree
murder in 2015.
Recently, Husbands argued that his 2015 trial was prejudiced as
a result of an improperly selected jury, and as such, he argued
that he was entitled to a new trial.
Last Friday, the Ontario Court of Appeal agreed.
The Court overturned Husbands' convictions as a result of
the trial judge's "irreparable mistake" with regards
to the jury selection.
As discussed in the previous post on this issue, in the 2015
trial, static jurors were imposed by the trial judge, despite
Husbands' lawyers' request for rotating jurors. The Court
of Appeal acknowledged that Husbands' request was clear, and
the trial judge was wrong to have imposed static jurors. According
to the Court of Appeal, "In accordance with
