The appellant was convicted of second-degree murder following a fatal altercation outside a bar where the victim was struck with a baseball bat.
The appellant appealed the conviction, arguing the trial judge made several errors in the jury instructions.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding the trial judge erred by instructing the jury they could use a witness's prior videotaped statement for the truth of its contents without proper adoption, failing to give a Vetrovec warning for a key Crown witness with credibility issues, improperly dismissing the intoxication defence, and failing to correct the Crown's breach of the rule in Browne v. Dunn.
The conviction was quashed and a new trial ordered.
