Ontario’s top court has ordered a third murder trial for a Sarnia-area man accused of killing his wife, going as far as to say the defence may have a “strong argument” to admit fresh evidence pointing to a different suspect. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Craig Short’s first-degree murder conviction in a decision made public Tuesday after finding that the trial judge should have granted the request of Short’s trial lawyer to be taken off the case. “The trial judge’s ruling rendered the appearance of the trial unfair and resulted in a miscarriage of justice, requiring a new trial.” The lawyer, Phillip Millar, had asked to be taken off the record six weeks before the start of Short’s second trial (the first trial resulted in a hung jury), saying that he had not been paid for the first trial and may have to sue Short for non-payment. Article Continued BelowBut he also said there had been communications between him and Short “that have led to loss-of-confidence issues,” and that he could no longer “go forward ethically as a result of some of those communications.” Doherty said the trial judge should have ordered the lawyer removed because of those ethical concerns. Although it was this issue that led the Court of Appeal to order a new trial, Doherty also touched on several other grounds put forward by Short’s appeal lawyers, including evidence that the defence argues points to a different man killing Short’s wife, Barbara, in October 2008.

Source: thestar January 02, 2018 20:26 UTC