The accused was charged with second degree murder after shooting two men involved in drug trafficking who had repeatedly threatened her.
At trial, the judge instructed the jury on self-defence but, in answering a jury question, limited the relevance of previous threats to determining whether an assault occurred on the night of the shooting.
The accused was convicted, but the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial.
The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the Crown's appeal, holding that the trial judge erred by failing to instruct the jury that previous threats were also highly relevant to the accused's reasonable apprehension of death or grievous bodily harm and her belief that she could not otherwise preserve herself.
