D. Didiodato

Following a guilty verdict, the trial judge opened a letter purportedly from a juror.

An inquiry was held where the juror denied writing the letter.

The defence subsequently applied for a mistrial or a stay of proceedings based on a reasonable apprehension of bias, arguing that the juror's subsequent contact with the Crown tainted the process.

The trial judge dismissed the applications, finding that he was functus officio under the rule in R. v. Burke, which dictates that only an appellate court has jurisdiction to order a new trial for alleged juror bias requiring reconsideration of the verdict.

The judge also held that the Burke rule does not violate section 7 of the Charter and declined to continue the inquiry due to jury secrecy concerns.

During a trial for break and enter and assault, the court ruled on whether certain defences could be left with the jury.

The court permitted the third-party suspect defence for one accused, finding sufficient evidence connecting another individual to the crime.

However, the court refused to leave the defences of self-defence and duress for the co-accused, concluding there was no air of reality to the claim that he drew a knife from the victim's kitchen in response to a threat.